AK HJR24

Congress enacted the National Forest Receipts Program in 1908, requiring 25 percent of annual income from national forest activities to be shared with states for education and roads in affected communities.

Changes to national forest management in 1986 curtailed forest product harvesting and caused steep declines in revenue payments to forest communities.

P.L. 106-393 (Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000) temporarily stabilized these revenue payments but expires in 2011.

Many of Alaska's rural communities in the Tongass National Forest and Chugach National Forest depend heavily on national forest revenue with little privately owned land available for economic development.

Alaska Legislature requests that Congress and the President enact a long-term reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to prevent devastating effects on forest communities' education and services.