The Barbed Wire - October 04, 2019

RCRC Announces Winner of 2019 Rural Photo Contest

The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2019 Rural Photo Contest, with this year’s first place prize going to Fares Alti for capturing the beauty of the fall season as witnessed on a breathtaking Inyo County backroad.  

The contest drew more than 180 entries, from amateur and professional photographers alike.  Each entry featured powerful imagery of California’s unique rural communities. 

The RCRC Rural County Photo Contest was established to promote tourism and local economic development through showcasing the beautiful landscape, scenery, activities, history, and charm of RCRC’s 37 member counties. 

Rural Community and Business Leaders Raise $61,500 for Inyo County Charities

The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) announced earlier this week that rural community and business leaders from across the state raised $61,500 for five Inyo County charities at RCRC’s 2019 Annual Meeting.  Raised during the RCRC Basket Auction in El Dorado County late last month, the funds will assist a multitude of countywide resource providers in their efforts to serve the residents of Inyo County.  Read More…

RCRC President and CEO Unveils Golden State Natural Resources at Annual Meeting

At RCRC’s 2019 Annual Meeting in El Dorado County last week, Greg Norton, RCRC President and CEO, took the stage to share some exciting news for California’s rural communities.  

Addressing a packed room, Mr. Norton unveiled Golden State Natural Resources (GSNR), a public benefit, non-profit corporation that will remove fire fuels from forest restoration activities in California’s forests, create a pelletized fuel product at revitalized processing facilities in select RCRC member counties, and export the pellets to Asian countries that are party to the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Accord.

“This effort will require a lot of work, and this is just the beginning,” said Norton.  “But we feel it is an important project and role for RCRC to assume on behalf of our members, and we wanted to share it with you today.”

GSNR’s program of work will result in many benefits, including:

• Enhanced public safety by the reduction of fire risks;
• Improvement of air quality, the quality and quantity of water, and habitats through forest restoration;
• Enhanced carbon sequestration resulting from healthier forests and reduced fire risks; and,
• Rural community job creation by conducting the work in the forests and at processing facilities in rural California.

While the project has been years in the making, it is still somewhat in its infancy.  One of the first big hurdles has been realized with the signing of one of the first in the nation, twenty-year Master Stewardship Agreement with the US Forest Service for the entirety of USFS Region 5 in California. 

Federal PILT and Secure Rural Schools Update

A bipartisan coalition of 31 senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urging them to include a two-year reauthorization of the Federal Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) programs in any “end-of-the-year package” moving through Congress.  

Federal PILT was scheduled to expire at the end of Fiscal 2019 but is temporarily extended under a recent stopgap spending measure signed by President Donald Trump to extend government funding through November 21, 2019.  Funding for SRS ceased at the end of Fiscal 2018, and the letter asks for a two-year reauthorization while counties wait for Congress to take on the Forest Management for Rural Stability Act, a bill that would enact a permanent funding mechanism for SRS recipients.

Reauthorizing Federal PILT and SRS is a perennial priority for members of Congress from rural and western states.  County advocates have long called for a permanent funding mechanism for both PILT and SRS, but the programs are often held in limbo through short term reauthorizations.  The Forest Management for Rural Stability Act would permanently fund SRS, and Senator Cory Gardner’s (R-Colorado) legislation, the PILT Reauthorization Act, would reauthorize PILT for ten-years, each addressing short and long term concerns for rural counties.

Without passage of either of these pieces of legislation, members are stuck advocating for short-term reauthorizations.  The letter addressed to Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer was signed by several senators from western states, including Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Kamala Harris (D-California), signifying the importance of Federal PILT and SRS funding for California counties.

Cannabis Banking Update

Last week, the House voted to approve the SAFE Banking Act, HR 1595.  The bill passed with bipartisan support despite opposition from conservative members and Republican leadership who argue Congress should address the issue of marijuana legalization directly instead of voting on a narrow carve out for the banking industry.  

The bill was praised during the floor debate by members of both parties, including cosponsors Representatives Ed Perlmutter (D-Colorado), Denny Heck (D-WA), and Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), along with House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-California).

House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) and Representative David Kustoff (R-Tennessee) were among the Republicans to rise in opposition of the bill.  Representative Kustoff expressed concerns HR 1595 would incentivize and encourage the expanded use of marijuana.  Ranking Member McHenry argued the issue should be addressed through comprehensive legislation that authorizes the federal government to monitor and regulate the widespread use of cannabis.

Despite these oppositions, the bill ultimately enjoyed broad bipartisan support for providing relief to cannabis businesses and cannabis related businesses that were forced to operate as cash-only businesses.  Democrats who spoke in support of the bill said the SAFE Banking Act was a small step towards progress but that members will continue to push for comprehensive marijuana legalization and reform.

The final vote count for HR 1595:

-           Y: 321

-           N: 103

The bill received 229 yea votes from Democrats, 91 from Republicans, and one vote from Representative Justin Amash (I-MI).  The bill was opposed by 102 Republicans and one Democrat.  The only Californians to oppose the bill were Representatives Ken Calvert (R-California), Doug LaMalfa (R-California), and Paul Cook (R-California).

Forestry Infrastructure Update

Last week, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry held a hearing on “The National Forest System: Restoring our Forest Infrastructure.”  Led by Subcommittee Chairwoman Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia) and Ranking Member Doug LaMalfa (R-California), the hearing focused on the $5.2 billion backlog of maintenance projects within the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).  

Ranking Member LaMalfa further pointed out 75 percent of the backlog is maintenance of the USFS road system of which federal forests in California share $400 million.

In 2018, Congress passed legislation to end the budgetary practice known as “fire borrowing” that is broadly considered responsible for the erosion of the maintenance program at the USFS.  The “fire borrowing” fix will take effect in Fiscal 2020, which supporters hope will free up significant funds for the USFS to address the decaying infrastructure on federal forest lands.  Ranking Member LaMalfa also acknowledged the USFS’s recent proposed rulemakings that would expedite the environmental review process for certain projects related to forest management.  Lenise Lago, Associate Chief at USFS, provided the subcommittee with an assessment of the USFS of the $5.2 billion maintenance backlog at her agency and discussed undertakings at the USFS to address decaying infrastructure on federal forest land.

NTIA Pilot Broadband Map

In 2018, Congress directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop a National Broadband Availability Map to highlight which areas of the country remain truly unconnected from high speed broadband.  NTIA began working with eight partner states to develop a pilot version which was made available to state and federal authorities for the first time this week.  

California was among the eight states selected to partner with NTIA on the pilot program, and state officials will have a unique opportunity to leverage cutting edge broadband coverage data to better understand the availability of internet broadband in rural California.  While the map is not publicly availability, the state should coordinate with local partners to take advantage of the new data from the pilot program.