RAC meeting set for June 17

COEUR d'ALENE - Comprised of local citizens from the five northern counties, the Idaho Panhandle Resource Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, June 17, at the Idaho Panhandle National Forests Supervisor's Office in Coeur d'Alene.

"It's a real range of diverse voices," said Forest Service spokeswoman Suzanne Endsley.

The 15 RAC members represent mining, timber, recreation, grazing and other North Idaho interests. They will distribute about $690,000 in funding for natural resource projects in 2011, according to a Forest Service press release.

"Over the last 10 years, we've done several million dollars' worth of projects in the forest," said Jon Cantamessa, RAC chairman and Shoshone County commissioner.

Funding for RAC projects is made available to Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties through the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2008, the release said.

Fifteen percent of the total funding is reserved for the RAC, Cantamessa explained. The remainder goes to the counties and is used for schools and infrastructure.

The RAC projects generally benefit forest health, fish, wildlife, soils, watersheds and other resources; maintain roads, trails and other infrastructure; or control noxious weeds.

"They have to be on Forest Service land, or adjacent to or benefiting (Forest Service land)," Endsley said.

Items up for review at the June meeting include road resurfacing projects, summertime employment for area youth and noxious weed mitigation. RAC projects are typically completed by Forest Service personnel, through partnership agreements or by open-bid contracting with individuals and corporations, the release said.

"There's a lot of worthwhile projects that have taken place, and it's good to have citizens' input," Cantamessa said.

Normally, the RAC begins reviewing projects in the fall of a given year, the release said. But the Secure Rural Schools legislation expires on Sept. 30, 2011, so the committee will approve projects for the 2012 field season this month.

"This potentially is the last meeting for the group," Endsley said.

The RAC finished approving projects for the current field season in February.

The June meeting begins at 9 a.m. The public is welcome to attend, and a public forum is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. The supervisor's office is at 3815 Schreiber Way.

For more information on the Idaho Panhandle RAC, please contact Suzanne Endsley at (208) 765-7223.