The GOP is crying the Parliamentarian blocked SRS payments to counties www.fs.usda.gov/working-with.... But Senator Wyden secured payments easily when Dems were in charge home.treasury.gov/policy-issue.... If SRS is really bipartisan, the GOP needs to work in good faith toward a permanent fix.
Timber mandates in OBBBA don't include revenue sharing for public land counties & SRS funding was stripped by the Senate. OBBBA extracts revenue from rural counties to pay for tax cuts. Long-term contracts disadvantage small contractors and limit competition. Left behind places left behind again.
Trump's disregard for rural counties on full display in his proposed budget. Zeros out Secure Rural Schools without any viable alternative. That's a $26 million hit to CA counties w/ no plan. Congress, what you got? www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
Figure: 25% Fund and SRS in CA 1986-2024
Tonight, the U.S. House will vote on whether to sell off 500,000 acres of public land. Tune in at 2PM today for my AMA on the future of America's public lands. We'll talk policy and (maybe) wonk out on econ. and fiscal topics. Submit a question: www.reddit.com/r/environmen...
The U.S. Forest Service made nearly five times as much money from recreation on public lands in CA compared to timber sales last year. To make more money, the GOP is firing staff, closing offices, and mandating timber sales. Actions that wound the golden goose.
Thank you Senator for protecting our public lands! I live in Montana where I own millions of acres with my family and friends. And their friends. And lots of people we don't know, too. And we like it this way.
The hits keep coming: Republicans are quietly preparing to sell off public lands – owned by the taxpayers – to pay for their tax breaks for billionaires.
Is Doug Bergum Aesop's Miser with his Gold? Bergum values public lands as assets on the nation's balance sheet. If DOI fails to care for them--by firing essential staff & slashing budgets--they'll be worthless in the end. Is this really what we're doing here? insideclimatenews.org/news/0204202...
Let's ask for a task force of public land owners to identify inholdings, winter ranges, trail connectors, stream access, and berry patches to purchase near the communities where public lands may be sold. Housing, yes. We also need more access, not less, to nature.
If we're really selling public lands--and let's still have that debate--the proceeds must be used to purchase public land somewhere else for recreation/conservation. Liquidating the nation's endowment for today's ephemeral political agendas is a non-starter. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...
Tune in to hear about New Mexico's new econ. strategy Wed. 1pm Mountain. I know, not what stirs the soul. But, for a resource rich state working to escape the resource curse, this is great stuff!
www.americanprogress.org/article/reso...
edd.newmexico.gov/state-plan/
If Trump is doing anything, he's hastening coal's decline by favoring natural gas. Ending the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities leaves these workers behind. Killing the IWG doesn't save money, it costs us as a nation. wyofile.com/kemmerer-coa...
WLN will host a virtual briefing on March 6 on defending federal climate investments and environmental protections. We will be joined by speakers from Center for American Progress, Lawyers for Good Government, and Environmental Protection Network. Register today: www.westernleaders.org/virtualevents
Leighton, yes please explain. We've identified a risk to energy economies, like Wyoming's, where federal energy revenue creates a resource curse. In this case, a SWF decouples drilling and mining from annual budgets. To the extent that Alaska has a SWF, we're proposing the same thing.
Last year’s cohort revealed the value of a federal partner who shows up, listens, and works on problems community are trying to solve. Not surprisingly, community leaders had great ideas about how to make government efficient, coordinated, and impactful. We need their ideas now more than ever.
What can we offer counties as they work to leverage recreation assets into jobs, income, and community benefits? Who is tracking the impact of layoffs, funding cuts, and changes to public land management that affect opportunities--and where new partnerships, funding, and ideas are gathering.
What will become of rural America's recreation economy? I'll be at NACo's BRECC capstone with county teams from across the US sharing economic diversification plans. As an advisor, my role in helping teams find funding, partnerships, revenue, and ideas to pursue those plans.
We're not powerless! We have ideas that work for people. Congress knows what to do when they hear from enough of us that they need to do their job!
For the wonks and the activists here's more about the alternative:
www.americanprogress.org/article/inve...
Trump wants a sovereign wealth fund, though no formal proposal exists yet. Here’s one: As the U.S. taps more oil, we should replace that extracted value in an American Energy Legacy Fund to build intergeneration wealth for Americans. www.reuters.com/markets/weal...
Yes to royalties for renewables! And also yes to fixing state and local tax policy. The anti-tax movement has left too many places unable to capture and retain revenue from renewables. This is still relevant today (sadly) headwaterseconomics.org/tax-policy/f....
There is an easy fix here, folks. Adopt Wyden and Crapo's permanent fund to pay for SRS. It's revenue neutral for taxpayers and gives counties and schools the certainty they are asking for.
Problem: dailyyonder.com/u-s-house-fa...
Solution: www.americanprogress.org/article/prot...
Historic. Comprehensive. Correct. Montana Supreme Court upholds lower court ruling in Held vs. Montana. Montana has a constitutional obligation to consider the climate impacts of its decisions on the state's children. dailymontanan.com/2024/12/18/m...
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