Schools and Timber
Re “Bill Fails to End Fight Over School Funds, Timber Sales,” Nov. 15: Schools should never have to depend on revenues from national forest timber in the first place. Timber-sale revenues from public lands are falling, as they should, because the harvest of national forest timber doesn’t even begin to pay for the cost of cutting it and hauling it away (an action that is already heavily subsidized with taxpayer dollars). Marrying necessary funds for education with an industry that is barely able to recoup its own losses, even with significant government assistance, is ludicrous.
Untie the inappropriate coupling of schools and timber sales on public lands, and fund the schools through the general treasury. If you want to find more money for schools, discontinue logging on national forest land and save the taxpayers more than a billion dollars in tax money every year. That will buy a few schoolbooks.
BOB OGILVY
Los Angeles
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