Real Estate Land

What's wrong with us folks, why are our forestland for sale? According to the President's FY 2008 Budget for the Forest Service, this is a legislative proposal that would provide the necessary funding to extend implementation of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.

The new legislative initiative is coined as the National Land Adjustment for Rural Communities Act, which will be implemented through the office of the Secretary of Agriculture. This act will provide the funds necessary for the four-year extension of the SRS. To do this, the administration recommends selling a limited number of acres of the National Forest System of lands from all over the United States.

Significantly, the legislative proposal requires that 50% of receipts from the sale of forestland would go to the coffers of the State where the sale was initiated and completed. These funds will then be used to finance the acquisition of land as well as access arteries for the NFS system, particularly on projects such as conservation education, wildlife and fish habitat restoration. Maps showing the location of forestlands for sale will be made available to all interested parties.

Affected areas of the proposal cover over 309,421 acres up for grabs to the highest bidders and involve more than 30 States. This will be the Forest Service's largest public land sale in decades and hopefully will not be a dent on the nation's overall conservation effort.

The proposed forestland sale will generate revenues of approximately $800 million to help defray expenses on the construction and maintenance of rural roads and mounting school costs. In the past century, local school communities were the recipients of timber sale revenues. However timber sales on public forests have since then declined with reduced revenue levels affecting rural based communities. At least this proposal would provide a short-term relief to impoverished local communities.

Environment advocates have voiced several concerns, particularly over the potential consequences once ownership is transferred to private entities. The points of contention include some properties that will most likely bar important public access to waterways. The Secretary of Agriculture on the other hand, has tagged the affected land areas “to be not the crown jewels” and certainly do not qualify as sensitive wilderness or protected scenic areas.

Real Estate Land |