|
|
How Much Wood Goes Into A House?
|
Idaho Council on Industry and the Environment |
| ICIE Newsletter December 2000 |
Recreation vs. Timber Revenues
Since no property taxes are collected form federal lands, 25-percent of the proceeds from timber sales are returned to the counties to help fund roads and schools.
As timber sales have declined, rural counties with a high ratio of federal lands have seen large decreases in revenues. Since those counties typically relied on jobs provided by resource industries, residents are hard pressed to make up the difference through property tax increases.
Predictions that recreation and tourism dollars would largely replace money provided by timber, mining and grazing have proved erroneous.
Also, Forest Service budgets have historically been tied to revenues. With shrinking receipts from timber, grazing, mining, recreation and other uses, the funds to make our forests healthy again simply aren't there. And a public that's been wrongly convinced that the path to forest health is leaving the land to heal itself, it's unlikely the political will exist to allow tax funds to care for the problem.
 
|
|
