WASHINGTON, D.C - A September 11 Washington Times story which claimed that nearly $3 million had been diverted from the U.S. Forest Service's budget - including $2.8 million in fire-fighting money - to a parks and festivals program in Washington, D.C. is not true.

The story, written by Washington Times columnist Stephen Dinan, sparked an uproar among western solons who thought the Obama Administration had ordered the funds transfer to Washington Parks and People, a 19-year old non-profit whose mission is the restoration of neglected parks and communities in the Washington, D.C. area.

Not so says George Leonard, a U.S. Forest Service retiree who looked into the matter. "The reporter simply did not do his homework," Leonard reported in a note to a Forest Service colleague. "The money that went to the District was from the $250 million stimulus package that was appropriated for state and private forestry programs.

Leonard said he had contacted the Forest Service's D.C. office for clarification and had been told the agency maintains numerous cooperative programs designed to assist states and cities with their urban community forests. The purpose of the programs is to help develop a wider public appreciation for natural resources, including trees, and to help fund summer jobs programs in urban parks.

The incorrectly reported funds transfer caught the attention of California Republican Congressman Wally Herger, whose second congressional district has in recent years been hard hit by forest fires. Herger, who is a frequent critic of the Obama Administration, told the Times the funds should have been used to thin overgrown federal forests that are fueling increasing destructives in the West's forests and watersheds.

In a related event, Washington Fourth District Congressman, Richard "Doc" Hastings, the ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee. , recently sent the Forest Service a letter asking why the agency was sending money to states that don't have any Forest Service land. Among them: Rhode Island, which received $449,000 in fire suppression money, Delaware, $895,000 and Massachusetts, $4.5 million. It turns out that these funds also came from the Forest Service's cooperative funds program, not the agency's firefighting budget.

For a complete list of U.S. Forest Service Stimulus Fund Projects click the PDF below.

USFS Stimulus Fund Projects