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HJM021....................................................by WAYS AND MEANS
NATIONAL FOREST LAND - STATE MANAGEMENT - Stating findings of the
Legislature and urging Congress to support federal legislation transferring
management of National Forest System lands within Idaho to the state of
Idaho to be managed for the benefit of the rural counties and schools, with
the state of Idaho being held harmless from the costs of administration;
and urging Congress to seek a long-term solution to the significant issues
that will face rural counties in the event the Secure Rural Schools
payments are not reauthorized or are allowed to expire following the 2006
reauthorization.
03/07 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/08 Rpt prt - to Res/Con
03/14 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/15 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/16 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Shepherd(8)
Title apvd - to Senate
03/17 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
03/21 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
03/22 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Pearce
Title apvd - to House
03/23 To enrol
03/24 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/27 Pres signed
03/28 To Secretary of State
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 21
BY WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS
3 ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE STATE OF
4 IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
5 We, your Memorialists, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the
6 State of Idaho assembled in the Second Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth
7 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
8 WHEREAS, the United States Forest Service administers the management of
9 39% of the land base in the state of Idaho, and an additional 22% is adminis-
10 tered by the United States Bureau of Land Management; and
11 WHEREAS, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. Section 471, an 1891 law authorizing the
12 President to establish national forests, the purpose for establishing and
13 administering national forests was to set aside public lands reserved as
14 national forests to be controlled and administered, to the extent practical,
15 in accordance with the Act which provided that "no national forest may be
16 established except to improve and protect the forest, or to secure favorable
17 conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for
18 the use and necessities of citizens"; and
19 WHEREAS, it has long been the intent and policy of the federal government
20 to hold rural communities harmless from the creation of federal lands and in
21 1906 the Committee on Public Lands recognized that the presence of federal
22 lands could create a hardship for many counties, as they provided little reve-
23 nue or commerce at that time; and
24 WHEREAS, in 1908, Congress created the Twenty-five Percent Fund Act to pay
25 states and counties 25% of receipts collected from national forests and man-
26 dated that payments were to be spent on schools and roads, recognizing that
27 viable communities adjacent to the public lands, with adequate roads and
28 schools, were essential for the development and preservation of the national
29 forests; and
30 WHEREAS, the federal policy of holding counties harmless from the creation
31 of public lands within counties was reiterated in 1916 with the creation of
32 the Oregon and California Grant Lands under the Chamberlain-Ferris Act, and
33 again in 1937 with passage of the Oregon and California Grant Lands Act; and
34 WHEREAS, the forest resources were intended to be managed in such an
35 environmentally responsible manner that they would produce long-term sustain-
36 able revenue to share with schools and counties as well as products for the
37 nation; and
38 WHEREAS, in 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community
39 Self-Determination Act, commonly known as public law 106-393, which restored
40 historical payment levels previously made to states and counties from the fed-
41 eral government for road and school purposes due to declining levels of actual
42 forest receipts; and
43 WHEREAS, the reauthorization of public law 106-393 is pending before the
44 United States Congress and Idaho counties are on record as being strongly sup-
2
1 portive of a fully-funded approval of this Act; and
2 WHEREAS, recently, federal land managers have been faced with an ever-
3 present funding shortage and rural counties will be faced with higher property
4 taxes or a reduction in services if the Secure Rural Schools and Community
5 Self-Determination Act is not reauthorized and appropriated; and
6 WHEREAS, there is continued concern that if the Act is reauthorized and
7 appropriated it may be the last time it occurs and a long-term solution to
8 these issues is necessary; and
9 WHEREAS, the state of Idaho is dependent upon healthy national forest sys-
10 tem lands for economic benefit, recreation and scenic beauty and it is time to
11 demonstrate a new initiative and commitment to the intent and policy of the
12 federal government to hold counties and schools harmless from the creation of
13 federal lands and construct a path leading to economic stability for rural
14 communities and schools; and
15 WHEREAS, transfer of the management of the national forest system lands
16 that are not designated as wilderness, proposed or recommended wilderness,
17 wild and scenic river, or national recreation area, or designated roadless
18 area in Idaho, to the state of Idaho would promote better stewardship of the
19 public lands, provide financial returns to the counties, secure public access,
20 meet Congress's intent to hold rural communities harmless from the creation of
21 federal lands, and fund schools, road and bridge infrastructure which would
22 offset significant tax increases in rural counties in the event the Secure
23 Rural Schools payments are not reauthorized or are allowed to expire following
24 the 2006 reauthorization; and
25 WHEREAS, precedent for state administration of federally-owned lands
26 exists in the state of Idaho at the City of Rocks area in southern Idaho and
27 campground-related facilities and land at Lake Cascade; and
28 WHEREAS, a transfer of management to the state of Idaho would demonstrate
29 a new initiative and commitment to the intent and policy of the federal gov-
30 ernment to hold rural counties and schools harmless from the consequences of
31 the reservation of federal lands and construct a process leading to economic
32 stability for rural communities and schools; and
33 WHEREAS, lands for which management responsibility is transferred to the
34 state of Idaho could be administered by the Idaho Department of Lands in coop-
35 eration with county officials and with cooperative oversight by the United
36 States Forest Service and state and local government could establish, or use
37 existing natural resource advisory committees composed of a diverse cross-sec-
38 tion of the public, with all decisions and actions relating to the lands being
39 required to comply with every federal and state environmental law; and
40 WHEREAS, the management of these lands would have to meet the mandates of
41 the Healthy Forest Initiative, the National Fire Plan, and state and county
42 fire mitigation plans.
43 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
44 sion of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and
45 the Senate concurring therein, that we urge the Congress to support federal
46 legislation transferring management of national forest system lands within
47 Idaho to the state of Idaho to be managed for the benefit of the rural coun-
48 ties and schools with the state of Idaho being held harmless from the costs of
49 administration.
50 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is urged to provide that any transfer
51 of management authority would not affect any rights or authority of the state
52 with respect to fish and wildlife, or repeal or modify any provision of law
53 that permits the state or political subdivisions of the state to share in the
54 revenues from federal lands, or any provision of law that provides that fees
55 or charges collected at particular federal areas be used for or credited to
3
1 specific purposes or special funds.
2 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is urged to provide that fees or rev-
3 enues collected under state management be allocated 75%, or other appropriate
4 percentage, for the benefit of the counties and schools in which the national
5 forest system lands are located and 25%, or other appropriate percentage, for
6 the benefit of the national forest in which the lands administered by the
7 state of Idaho are located to be paid at the end of the year to the Secretary
8 of the Treasury, and that amounts allocated to the counties should not be
9 taken into account for purposes of the Twenty-five Percent Fund pursuant to 16
10 U.S.C. Section 500.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Congress is urged to seek a long-term solution
12 to the significant issues that will face rural counties in the event the
13 Secure Rural Schools payments are not reauthorized or are allowed to expire
14 following the 2006 reauthorization.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representa-
16 tives be, and she is hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this
17 Memorial to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Repre-
18 sentatives of Congress, and the congressional delegation representing the
19 State of Idaho in the Congress of the United States.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16195C1
The purpose of this memorial to the U.S. Congress is to request
the transfer of management of the national forest system lands
within Idaho to the State of Idaho to be managed for the benefit
of the rural counties and schools.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund.
Contact
Name: Representatives Paul Shepherd, Mike Moyle, Ken Roberts,
Lawerence Denney, Clete Edmunson
Phone: (208) 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE HJM 21