Senator Conrad Burns Vows to Protect Fuels for Schools Funding

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its 2006 spending bill earlier this month and earmarked $2 million for the Fuels for Schools program http://www.fuelsforschools.org/ .

The bill now goes before the full Senate, but Montana Senator Conrad Burns http://burns.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Home.Home feels confident in the future of Fuels for Schools funding.

"I will be working to make sure valuable programs like this one make it through the entire appropriations process untouched," Burns said in a Friday statement.

In total, the appropriations bill includes $78 million for Montana, including funding for conservation easements on the Rocky Mountain front, wolf monitoring and whirling disease research.

The Fuels for Schools program began in the Bitterroot Valley, but has really expanded, said David Atkins, a Forest Service program coordinator with the project.

In the fall of 2003, a biomass boiler was installed for the school buildings in Darby.

The boiler burns wood chips, which are much cheaper to buy than the fuel oil the Darby school used previously for heat.

Most of the wood chips come from slash generated by private and government hazardous fuels reduction work.

Victor schools followed Darby, installing a biomass boiler last fall and the Stevensville school district is currently considering the program as well, said Angela Farr, Montana coordinator for Fuels for Schools with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

"Interest seems to be picking up everyday," Farr said.

by GREG LEMON – Ravalli Republic

Full Story: http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2005/06/13/news/news03.txt

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‘Win-win situation’: Chipping slash rids land of fire hazards and provides fuel for school biomass boilers http://www.matr.net/article-11840.html

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