Notes USDA • Objectives To provide an annual payment from national forest receipts to the States to be used for schools and roads. • Program Description With few exceptions, 25 percent of all moneys received from the national forests during the fiscal year is paid to States in which the forests are located. These payments benefit public schools and public roads in the county or counties within the national forests (16 U.S.C. 500). The National Forest Management Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-588, October 22, 1976) expanded the term "moneys received" to include all collections from sale area improvement activities plus "all amounts earned or allowed any purchaser of National Forest timber and other forest products within such State...for construction of roads." The Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act for fiscal year 1993 (P.L 102-381, October 5, 1992) permanently included timber salvage sale receipts in the definition of "moneys received." In FY 1997, a new general fund account of the U.S. Treasury was established to provide funds for the guaranteed payment to the States of Washington, Oregon, and California for the benefit of counties in which national forests are situated and that are affected by decisions related to the northern spotted owl, as stated in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-66, August 10, 1993). This general fund payment is based on a declining percentage of prior year receipts. The guaranteed floor will expire in 2003. After that date, all payments will be made from the National Forest Fund. Budget Authority - actual collections in FY 1996 and projected collections for FY 1997 and FY 1998. 1998 Explanatory Notes USDA, Forest Service • Objectives To reforest timber sale areas, to improve timber growth and product quality on timber sale areas by thinning and release treatments of the residual stands, and to protect and improve all other resource values on timber sale areas in conjunction with timber management activities. • Program Description Funds deposited by timber sale purchasers are used primarily to reforest areas cut over on timber sales and to improve the future productivity of timber stands by timber stand improvement practices. Work activities include site preparation, planting, fertilizing, precommercial thinning, release from competing vegetation, and pruning. Other resource activities for wildlife, range, and watershed are performed to maintain and improve productivity of renewable resources on sale areas that were impacted by logging activities. Accomplishments for this program are also reported under activities in the National Forest System (NFS) appropriation. About 66 percent of the total reforestation work will be funded from K-V in FY 1998. See the Forestland Vegetation Management section under NFS. • Program in FY 1998 The program level will provide the funding necessary to prepare sites and reforest 205,300 acres of national forest land as compared to 213,800 acres originally estimated in 1997. This decrease in acres to be reforested reflects a multi-year trend in decreased acres of K-V reforestation due to reduced timber harvest. Even though timber sale and harvest levels have sharply declined in the past five years, the K-V reforestation program remains relatively high. This results from reforestation occurring 2 to 4 years after timber harvest, thus the FY 1998 reforestation program is based on timber harvests from 1993 to 1996. The FY 1998 timber stand improvement program will provide for the treatment of 130,400 acres as compared to 172,900 acres originally estimated in FY 1997. This decrease in acres of timber stand improvement is in response to the reduced opportunities for improvements within sale areas as a result of the decline in timber sales in recent years. The total timber stand improvement program, including K-V, Appropriated, and Reforestation Trust Funds, will not meet the estimated annual need of 300,000 acres but will decrease the inventory of current needs by 3,300 acres to 1,865,700 acres by October 1, 1998. The K-V Other program level will provide the funding necessary to protect and improve the productivity of the other renewable resources in timber sale areas. This program level represents an increase from the FY 1997 level. Émphasis will be on fish and wildlife habitat improvement, soil and water protection, and other improvement measures. |