By Mark Haggerty, Headwaters Economics— U.S. Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack just announced that this year’s ‘transition’ payments to counties from the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) will again ‘contribute to rural communities becoming self-sustaining and prosperous.’
The Secretary stressed that these payments ($389 million) fund local roads and schools—important for communities still feeling the after-effects of the recession. They do much more.
In the West, federal spending is important, but equally so are federal public lands. How SRS payments are funded and distributed is a key factor in determining how public lands are managed, and the kinds of jobs available in rural communities.…