As Congress and the Administration wrestle with the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, the Forest Service has the following to say:
September 30, 2011 is the deadline for Resource Advisory Committees to complete their recommendations on proposed projects that would use Title II funds to improve National Forest resources.
The Secure Rural Schools law included this deadline as part of the reauthorization in the fall of 2008. RACs will continue to have the authority to meet to monitor the implementation of the projects that use Title II funds.
September 30, 2011 is also the deadline for counties and states to submit their allocations between Titles II and III for the upcoming payment.
Some attention is being paid to Idaho RACs. A Sunday June 12 article in the Idaho Statesman describes how the RACs authorized by the Secure Rural Schools law helped promote collaborative relationships among normally adversarial parties. Statesman reporter Rocky Barker interviewed a number of people including RAC members for the article.
In addition to the story in the newspaper, Barker also blogged about the May 26 Southwest Idaho RAC meeting. you can read the first one here prior to the meeting and then the follow up story after.
Ever wonder how much Title II funding has come to Idaho over the years? The chart below shows how much money has been allocated to each RAC in Idaho since the RACs were established in late 2001.
Over the years the payent formula under PL 106-393 and the decisions of the county officials provided for steady payments and a fairly reliable financial base for RACs to use for making project recommendations. The only bigg change in those years was 2001 to 2002 when additional funds were made available to the Idaho Panhandle RAC after the Shoshone County Commissioners increased their allocation to Title II.
Following the enactment of PL 110-343 the payment to Idaho jumped considerably with substantial benefits to the North Central Idaho RAC, the Central Idaho RAC, and the Eastern Idaho RAC. The Southwest Idaho RAC and Panhandle RAC continued to receive a similar amount of funds. The South Central RAC was appointed as funds became available for that committee to operate.
While Title II funds ballooned to more than $6 million statewide following FY 2008, the most recent payment has dropped by a million dollars in in large part to the total payments coming to Idaho counties dropping ten percent or about $5 million, from roughly $44 million to $39 million. The next two years of payments are scheduled to also drop ten percent per year.
Back in 2006 the Southwest Idaho RAC was approached by Cascade District Ranger Carol McCoy- Brown who asked for Title II funds to help finance some maintenance work at the Landmark Ranger Station. The work is part of a larger effort at historic preservation of a set of buildings that were constructed between 1924 and 1942.
The Southwest Idaho RAC looked favorably on the project and recommended some Title II funding for the work. This grant was matched with contributions from National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Idaho Heritage Trust, as well as additional dollars from Forest Service appropriations. The result is a complex of buildings that are ready for continued use while respecting the heritage that the buildings represent. The work was completed and the buildings survived the large fires of 2007 that burned through the general vicinity.
Fast forward to 2010 and word comes that Preservation Idaho at its recent annual awards ceremony recognized Carol McCoy-Brown as the recipient of an Orchid: Excellence in Historic Preservation Award. McCoy-Brown received the honor at the annual awards ceremony put on by Preservation Idaho in early May. You can read more here about the award, including mention of the support provided by the Southwest Idaho RAC.
As this website relaunches the timing comes when four of the six RACs report they are done with their meetings for 2010 until the next allocation of Title II funds are made available. Meetings were held in April and RACs were able to complete their work of making recommendations to the local forest managers on projects to use Title II funds.
The North Central Idaho RAC is tentatively planning a field trip in early August. Once plans are in place we will post the information. Other RACs also may have a summer field trip to view projects that have been implemented with Title II funds.
Back in 2002 this website was started as a cooperative venture between the Southwest Idaho Resource Advisory Committee (RAC), Boise State University, and the USDA Forest Service. The site idahorac.org served as the official website for the RAC and also attempted to provide information about other RACs in Idaho.
Now in 2010 we are back, using new web programming tools and a goal to be more active with posting information about RACs, their meetings, and the work that gets done on National Forests in Idaho.
If we get this working well you will want to check in regularly because we will have frequent updates to what is going on with RACs in Idaho.
