Washington DC – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and James Risch (R-ID) today urged federal officials to reauthorize citizen committees that provide key advice for important natural resources work in national forests.
The senators’ bipartisan letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue seeks prompt reauthorization of the national Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) charter under the Ley de Escuelas Rurales Seguras y Autodeterminación Comunitaria (SRS).
“Reauthorizing the national charter will enable 114 RACs across the country in primarily rural areas to engage with local citizens in the responsible distribution of approximately $40 million in title II SRS funds, directly supporting jobs and important natural resources work on America’s national forests,” escribieron los senadores.
“We are concerned that an ongoing delay in reauthorization could jeopardize the organization of RACs and consequently hinder distribution of these funds to local, rural communities,” ellos escribieron.
SRS was first introduced in 2000 to assist counties containing tracts of federally-owned land that is tax-exempt.
Una copia de la carta es aquí. A web version of this release is aquí.
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