USFS wants timber cash back
Both sides dig in over $17.9 million in federal subsidies
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Forest Service is in the business of preventing fires, not starting them.
Yet the agency set off alarms in Congress and state capitols across the West by citing automatic spending cuts as the basis for demanding that dozens of states return $17.9 million in federal subsidies. And it's all come down to a bureaucratic squabble over whether the money is subject to so-called sequestration because of the year it was paid — 2013 — as the Obama administration contends, or exempt from the cuts because of the year it was generated — 2012 — as the states insist.
Right now, it's a standoff heightened by history and hard fiscal realities. But with taxpayer cash scarce, both sides are digging in: The Forest Service has to slash 5 percent of its budget under sequestration. The states, meanwhile, have depended for decades on a share of revenue from timber cut on federal land. Perhaps least willing to compromise are members of Congress who are up for re-election next year and are loath to let go of money that benefits potential voters back home.
and the rest of the article is linked below
source: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130504/NEWS/305040306
No comments:
Post a Comment