Laserfiche WebLink
Evergreen Forest County Group <br />9720 Ironmaster Drive <br />Burke, VA 22015 <br />703 898-6603 <br />October 3, 2024 <br />Dear Commissioner, <br />I appreciate the opportunity to serve you in the nation's capital city. <br />As your representative working with the National Forest Counties <br />and Schools Coalition, we are down to the wire working with our <br />Congressional allies to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) <br />payments program. Having worked continuously for the past 21 <br />months with your support, I am confident that the SRS three-year <br />extension we have fought for will pass, either as a stand-alone bill or <br />as part of a larger package. <br />However, this is not all I've focused on. With our Evergreen Forest <br />County Group's full support, House Natural Resources Committee <br />Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas.) and U.S. Rep. Scott Peters <br />(D-California) just handed National Forest counties a real victory <br />with a 268-151 vote. <br />Together, they led the full House of Representatives to take decisive <br />action to pass a legitimately bipartisan "Fix Our Forests Act'; which <br />will empower local land managers and agencies with tools to enact <br />the most substantive legislation to spur active forest management in <br />the U.S. and protect rural communities. <br />House Speaker Mike Johnson (R_LA) stated flatly, "Poor land <br />management, senseless bureaucracy, and increasingly common <br />wildfires pose severe threats to America's forests." <br />