skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

As Cost Soars, Senate Passes Maintenance Funding on Public Lands

play audio
Play

Thursday, June 18, 2020   

BOISE, Idaho -- The Senate has passed a bill to address the deep backlog of maintenance on the country's public lands.

Idaho has the third largest maintenance backlog on national forest lands, with more than $500 million in needs.

Jonathan Oppenheimer, external relations director for the Idaho Conservation League, says the Great American Outdoors Act will provide $9.5 billion to public lands of all types over the next five years.

"It's going to go directly to improve access and restore the roads, trails, bridges and infrastructure and other facilities that all Americans benefit from," he states.

Oppenheimer says the Nez Perce-Clearwater and Idaho Panhandle national forests have the greatest forest backlogs in the country, at $144 million and $141 million, respectively.

The bill passed the Senate 73 to 25 on Wednesday, but both senators from Idaho -- Republicans James Risch and Mike Crapo -- voted against it.

The bill includes full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund as well, which provides access to public lands.

Risch and Crapo expressed concern this program doesn't have enough oversight.

However, Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho is co-sponsoring the House version of the Great American Outdoors Act.

Oppenheimer says Simpson has been a stalwart champion of the fund.

"He's introduced bills in the past and this really carries on a trend and a commitment from Rep. Simpson to ensure that we are maintaining and keeping up our public lands," Oppenheimer states.

Oppenheimer adds that offshore oil and gas royalties are the source of funding for this bill.

"It's not going to add additional dollars to the deficit, not going to put us in the hole as a country, and instead is coming from a dedicated account which has the dollars available," he points out.

President Donald Trump has said he will sign this bill if Congress passes it.

Disclosure: Idaho Conservation League contributes to our fund for reporting on Energy Policy, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness, Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021