The U.S. Forest Service has asked dozens of states to return $17.9 million in federal subsidies as sequestration slashes its budget, according to an article from the Associated Press.
Since Theodore Roosevelt created the national forests, counties have received one quarter of the revenue generated from timber sold from federal land. The money is budgeted for roads, schools and emergency services.
At the heart of the issue is the fact that the payments were made a few months before sequestration. Representatives of the Forest Service say the payments were made in the 2013 budget year, but opponents in Congress and state officials say the revenue was generated in 2012, making it off limits.
"This retroactive move by the administration to squeeze more money from rural forest communities is not only legally questionable, but insults the longstanding relationship between counties and the federal government," said Ryan Yates of the National Association of Counties told AP.
