Denham & McClintock Joint Statement on Passage of the Federal Forest County Revenue, Schools and Jobs Act of 2012

Statement

Congressman Jeff Denham and Congressman McClintock today released the following statement on passage of The Federal Forest County Revenue, Schools and Jobs Act of 2012, H.R. 4019:

"Once-thriving rural communities are now struggling as a result of federal mismanagement of vast tracts of public lands in the West. High unemployment rates are widespread as is the constant threat of wildfires. Regions that once prospered from surplus timber are now ravaged by fires fueled by that same timber.

"The Federal Forest County Revenue, Schools and Jobs Act of 2012 requires the government to re-open access to the resources it had locked away and directs some of the proceeds to rural counties for schools and roads, while relieving the threat of catastrophic wildfires and restoring a semblance of the prosperity these communities once knew so well.

"This bill is a welcome change that forces federal bureaucracies to wisely steward federal lands, rather than continuing to subject them to the same benign neglect that robbed the rural West of its prosperity. Relieving the high unemployment and ensuring the prosperity of rural communities is imperative in today's economic climate. This legislation allows for common sense management of our public lands and the creation of much-needed jobs."

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