Drafter
Clerk 10/13/2003
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A MOTION identifying projects to be funded under Public Law 106-393, Title III, the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act of 2000, and allocating to those projects the funds to be received from the federal government for federal fiscal year 2004, which begins October 13, 2003.
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WHEREAS, in 1908 the United States Congress enacted and subsequently amended a law that requires that twenty-five percent of the revenues derived from national forest lands be paid to states for use by the counties in which the lands are situated for the benefit of public schools and roads, and
WHEREAS, the sharing of revenues from the national forest lands is, in part, a recognition that these lands are not subject to local taxation, and also that counties provide services that directly benefit the lands and the people who use the lands, and
WHEREAS, the principal source of revenues from national forest lands is from the sale and removal of timber, which has been sharply curtailed in recent years, with a corresponding decline in revenues shared with counties, and
WHEREAS, the United States Congress in the Secure Rural Schools and Self Determination Act of 2000, P.L. 106-393, recognized a need to stabilize education and road maintenance funding through predictable payments to the affected counties, job creation in those counties, and other opportunities associated with restoration, maintenance and stewardship of federal lands, and
WHEREAS, P.L. 106-393 provides for guaranteed minimum payments for the benefit of affected counties, as well as an opportunity to invest a portion of the guaranteed minimum payments in projects on federal lands or that benefit resources on federal lands, or in county projects or activities, and
WHEREAS, Title I, Section 102 of P.L. 106-393 gives each eligible county the right to elect to receive either its traditional share of revenues from the national forest lands or instead to receive the guarante...

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