All three members of the Dent County Commission recently met jointly with Matt Williams, a field representative with Senator Claire McCaskill’s office, to express their concern and frustration with the federal government’s policies concerning local funding. This meeting is the first in a new push by the commission for federal reform. The targets of this action are Congress and the National Forest Service, the agenda items are the expiration of the Secure Rural School Act and the Mark Twain National Forest’s Management Plan.
The recent non-reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act has left Dent County with a $194,707.60 funding shortfall, with only a pittance of National Forest monies to make up the difference.
“Our objective for this meeting was to let Sen. McCaskill know how serious this situation is,” says Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles. “Without this funding there will be a reduction in services. This will hurt our schools and our county roads.”
McCaskill’s office released an official statement recently officially endorsing a reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools and assuring constituents she is working towards that end.
“It’s important we apply a lot of pressure,” says First District County Commissioner Dennis Purcell. “They need to understand what losing this money will mean at the local level.”
In addition to meeting with Senator McCaskill’s representative, the commission is also planning to lobby Senator Roy Blunt and Representative Jason Smith. Purcell has already contacted Senator Blunt’s office and relayed a message through his staff. “I made our concerns known,” says Purcell. “I hope he will look closely at this.”
All three commission members were are also planning to attend a public town hall in Plato on Feb. 17, which Smith was also going to be attending to address concerns over Secure Rural Schools. This meeting was postponed due to weather and will be scheduled.
“We are attending to encourage Jason to keep working on the reauthorization,” says. Purcell “He is on board, but we have to keep fighting.”
Smith’s office also released a statement calling for a reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools by the Senate last week. Blunt’s office has not released any official statements.
In addition to the Secure Rural Schools push, the commissioners are also taking aim at funding from the national forest. Even with the renewal of Secure Rural Schools, the program was winding down, and payments have been decreasing for years. A straight renewal of the law will only buy Dent County a few more lean years, and an overhaul for more funding is likely a fool’s errand considering it can’t even pass in its current form.
“In the short-term we would like to see a renewal of Secure Rural Schools in the Senate,” says Skiles. “But we also need to take a serious look at the forest management plan. We cannot continue to have minimal use of our forests.”
The Mark Twain National Forest’s current management plan was written in 2005 and is coming due for a reauthorization, much like the Ozark National Scenic Riverways General Management Plan. It appears the forest’s management is going to be a contested issue just like the GMP last year. The ONSR debate created a genuine fervor locally. Among the topics in that debate were motorized boats and horseback riding, which are quite small in comparison to the much larger and contentious issues of logging, funding streams and conservation.
“We welcome the public’s input,” says Salem Forest Service District Ranger Thom Haines. “We are not revising our management plan yet, but it will be coming up. When we do, we will engage with the public and our leaders to determine the best plan forward.”
The commission would like to see the management plan changed to allow an increased timber harvest. This would bring in more money for the county’s schools and Road and Bridge Fund. Under the 1908 Twenty-Five Percent Fund Act, counties within the national forest get a quarter of the proceeds from federal timber sales. The 2015 harvest, however, will only generate $48,676.40 for Dent County.
“The preservationist mindset at the national forest is hurting our communities,” says Skiles. “We need to ask who the forests belong to, and ensure that they are a multiuse asset for our country.”
Purcell adds, “We need to utilize this renewable resource, the wood can’t be allowed to simply die.”
A reform of the forest management plan will no doubt stir up another local debate, and concern is already growing over the viability of industrializing the national forest.
“We have to deal with the market,” says Haines. “It’s not as simple as cutting more trees. The counties do get a 25 percent cut of timber sales, but there is a lot of wood harvested now which doesn’t sell. The counties will only get that money if the wood is sold, and if it doesn’t sell quickly, that wood will rot and then it will not be worth anything.”
Among the other issues that will have to be confronted with an increase in logging are; cheaper foreign wood entering the US market, fluctuating wood prices, and the lower quality of timber coming from the Ozarks in comparison to areas with richer soil, better climates and older growth forests.
“We are not a preservationist organization,” says Haines. “The forest service exists to benefit local communities in many ways, including economically. But as Gifford Pinchot once said, we are here to do the greatest good, for the greatest number of people, for the greatest amount of time. That means conservation. What we have to ask ourselves is what conservation means for us today, and for future generations.”
The dark horse of this coming debate may be changing the limited 25 percent cut that local counties receive from federal timber sales. As of now, logging would have to increase exponentially to reach a funding level comparable to the salad days of Secure Rural Schools, when Dent County annually received hundreds of thousands of dollars. Currently, the lion’s share of the timber sale proceeds go straight to the general revenue fund of Congress.
The Mark Twain National Forest is currently operating under its 2005 management plan. A firm date is not set, but this plan is due to be revised in the not too distant future. Whether or not an increase in logging activity will be taking place will ultimately be decided by Congress, much in the same way as with the Riverways’ GMP last year. A copy of the current management plan can be downloaded at http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mtnf/landmanagement/planning
