NEWS RELEASE USDA Forest Service Alaska Region Contact: Ray Massey Public Affairs E-mail: rmassey@xxxxxxxxx P.O. Box 21628 Phone: 907-586-7876 Juneau, AK 99802 Date: March 5, 2009 Want to Help Spend $3.6 Million to Benefit a National Forest- Apply to Join a RAC by March 31 JUNEAU, Alaska- Alaska needs resource advisory committee members to advise the Forest Service on spending over $3 million under the 2008 Secure Rural Schools Act. This money represents up to 15 percent of the $21 million the Act provided to Alaska for roads and schools for this first year of the Act. Under the Act, communities in unorganized areas and boroughs that receive Secure Rural Schools money must elect to use 15% of their allocation for one of two separate titles in the Act, or that 15% will revert to the federal government. Title III funds may only be used to carry out the Firewise Communities program, develop community wildfire protection plans, and reimburse for emergency services paid for by counties and performed on national forest systems land. Title II funds may be used for the protection, restoration, and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat, and other resource objectives consistent with the Secure Rural Schools Act on national forests. Those funds may also be used on non-federal land where projects would benefit the resources on national forests. Resource advisory committees propose and monitor projects under Title II. RACs from past Secure Rural Schools acts are functioning in Yakutat and Petersburg/Wrangell. New RACs will be forming to service Ketchikan, Prince of Wales Island, Sitka, Juneau, Icy Straits/Lynn Canal, Prince William Sound, and Kenai Peninsula/ Anchorage areas. Each RAC will consist of 15 members, and any Alaska resident may apply to sit on any of these committees. However, a person may only sit on one committee at a time. RAC members will serve four years and must represent one of the following interests: * Organized labor or non-timber forest product harvester groups * Developed outdoor recreation, off highway vehicle users, or commercial recreation activities * Energy and mineral development interests; or commercial or recreational fishing interests * Commercial timber industry * Federal grazing or other land use permit holders or represent non-industrial private forest land owners, within the area for which the RAC is organized * Nationally recognized environmental organizations * Regionally or locally recognized environmental organizations * Dispersed recreational activities * Archaeological and historical interests * Nationally or regionally recognized wild horse and burro interest groups, wildlife or hunting organizations, or watershed associations * Hold state elected office or their designee * Hold borough or local elected office * Represent American Indian tribes within or adjacent to the area for which the committee is organized * School officials or teachers Submit applications for RAC memberships by March 31. Contact the designated federal official for the RAC of your choice to apply for a membership. The name and contact information for a RAC?s designated federal official is located under the ?RACs? link at https://wwwnotes.fs.fed.us/wo/secure_rural_schools.nsf. Applicants may download a RAC application form (AD-755) from the same site. Additional information may be obtained from Chugach National Forest RAC Coordinator Heather Gott at (907) 743-9505 hgott@xxxxxxxxx or Tongass National Forest RAC Coordinator Phil Sammon at (907) 228-6201 psammon@xxxxxxxxx or Julie Speegle at 9907) 789-6246 jspeegle@xxxxxxxxx . Very detailed information concerning the makeup, functions and responsibilities of resource advisory committees under the 2008 Secure Rural Schools Act is on the Web at http://www.fs.fed.us/srs/racs.shtml. -30- Editors: Side bar or localizing material. RAC areas, Title II received to date, DFO contact information Kenai Peninsula RAC- $177,002.00 for Title II Kenai Borough Anchorage Borough DFO: Andy Schmidt ajschmidt@xxxxxxxxx Glacier District Ranger P.O. Box 129 Girdwood, AK 99587-0129 (907) 754-2317 Prince William Sound RAC- $846,394.00 for Title II Cordova Valdez Whittier Tatitlek Chenega DFO: Teresa Benson tbenson@xxxxxxxxx Cordova District Ranger P.O. Box 280 Cordova, AK 99574-0280 (907) 424-4742 Lynn Canal/Icy Strait RAC- $304,639.00 for Title II Haines Borough Angoon Gustavus Pelican Hoonah DFO: Rich Jennings rdjennings@xxxxxxxxx Hoonah District Ranger P.O. Box 135 Hoonah, AK 99829-0135 (907) 945-1201 Juneau RAC- $168,134.00 for Title II Juneau Borough DFO: Pete Griffin pgriffin@xxxxxxxxx Juneau District Ranger 8510 Mendenhall Loop Road Juneau, AK 99801-8041 (907) 789-6244 Wrangell/Petersburg RAC- $784,342.00 for Title II Wrangell Borough Petersburg Kake DFO: Chris Savage csavage@xxxxxxxxx Mark Hummel mhummel@xxxxxxxxx Petersburg District Ranger Wrangell District Ranger P.O. Box 1328 or P.O. Box 51 Petersburg, AK 99833-1328 Wrangell, AK 99929-0051 (907) 772-5900 907) 874-7500 Sitka RAC- $297,953.00 for Title II Sitka Borough Tenakee Springs Port Alexander DFO: Carol Goularte cgoularte@xxxxxxxxx Sitka District Ranger 204 Siginaka Way Sitka, AK 99835-7511 (907) 747-4218 Prince of Wales Island RAC- $486,008.00 for Title II Craig Hydaburg Klawock Coffman Cove Kasaan Thorne Bay DFO: Greg Killinger gkillenger@xxxxxxxxx Jason Andeson janderson@xxxxxxxxx Craig District Ranger Thorne Bay District Ranger P.O. Box 500 or P.O. Box 19001 Craig, AK 99921-9998 Thorne Bay, AK 99919-0001 (907) 826-1600 (907) 828-3210 Ketchikan RAC- $498,681.00 for Title II Ketchikan Borough Metlakatla DFO: Scott Snelson ssnelson@xxxxxxxxx Ketchikan-Misty Fiords District Ranger 3031 Tongass Avenue Ketchikan, AK 99901 (907) 228-4100 Yakutat RAC- $75,811.00 for Title II Yakutat Borough DFO: Lee Benson labenson@xxxxxxxxx Yakutat District Ranger P.O. 327 Yakutat, AK 99689-0327 (907) 784-3359 Ext. 12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To receive official Forest Service information by e-mail, please subscribe by visiting http://www.fs.fed.us/news/subscription/ To unsubscribe from this mailing list, please visit http://www.fs.fed.us/news/subscription If you wish to make changes to an existing account, please visit http://www.fs.fed.us/news/changes.shtml
