President Obama's stimulus package was supposed to provide jobs for some 1,200 people in Idaho's economically distressed timber counties, but most of these workers will have to wait until next year.

Even then, the red tape contractors will face to get the federal dollars could mean many local companies may not be eligible.

"I've got a 60-year-old contractor ... and he wants to work for the forest right now," said Chris St. Germaine, economic development coordinator for the city of Orofino.

All of Idaho's proposed forest projects, which were announced in April and then withdrawn for further U.S. Department of Agriculture review, made the final list of the USDA's $28 billion in stimulus projects.

But the three-month delay means very little work will get done on the ground this summer.

Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell acknowledged the agency "was overeager" to get its projects out. But he said the reviews ensured that there was no waste or fraud in the projects.

"We needed to make sure we were picking the best projects," Tidwell said.

The delay was not caused by the slow pace of appointments in the Obama administration, said Caleb Weaver, a USDA spokesman.

"This process ensures that USDA is open, transparent, responsive and accountable to the American people," Weaver said.

THE PROMISE MEETS THE REALITY

When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in March, it offered hope to residents of rural Idaho counties like Boise County, since the decline of the timber industry among the most depressed in the state for years. The road building, forest thinning, trail maintenance and facility maintenance projects offered many small contractors a chance to keep their businesses alive.

"We are losing the logging contractor infrastructure in Idaho," said Shawn Keough, executive director of the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho and a Republican state senator from Sandpoint. "President Obama's idea to provide a bridge is something this industry could have used."

The Forest Service decided in February it was going to require all contractors for projects larger than $100,000 to be certified by the Small Business Administration's HUBZone certification program. When everything goes smoothly, that takes 125 days, St. Germaine said. But because of the huge response, contractors today can expect to wait as much as six months.

Keough wants the Forest Service to waive the requirement. If they do, she said, they could get people like St. Germaine's contractor working as early as August.

"I believe Forest Service personnel on the ground know the contractors and know which ones will perform and which ones won't," Keough said. "They've been doing business with these people for years."

Republican Sen. Mike Crapo's staff has been working with St. Germaine and Keough to make the process faster. Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick has pressed the administration to waive the certification requirement.

"Some of the concerns over how this money is spent by the Forest Service is why Walt voted against the stimulus bill in the first place," said John Foster, Minnick's spokesman. "If it's going to take a year to 18 months to get the money spent it's not a stimulus bill - it's just another spending bill."

THE MONEY FINALLY HITS THE STREETS

Idaho's stimulus-funded forest projects will ultimately include $10 million for three bridges over the Salmon River, road work across the state, forest thinning and abandoned mine reclamation in North Idaho.

Thinning already started in the Boise National Forest will continue, keeping 10 loggers working, said David Olson, a Forest Service spokesman.

The work is a part of the Boise-Payette fuel/biomass project, which will include about 4,200 acres on the Boise National Forest and 3,800 acres on the Payette.

Once thinning is complete, 34,100 tons of wood from the Payette will be chipped and used for biomass energy and 3,000 tons from the Boise will be made into various wood byproducts.

The Boise Forest also plans to fix 100 miles of trails and hopes to have two crews working as soon as a few weeks from now, Olson said.

A handful of dollars are being spent already.

Evergreen Forest Products near Council has begun pouring concrete on a new drying kiln funded with stimulus dollars.

In Benewah, Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties, crews are clearing trees away from homes and cutting fire breaks under a $2.3 million contract administered by the Panhandle Area Council, an economic development group based in Coeur d'Alene.

"It's just started getting money in the economy," said the group's Nelle Coler.

Rocky Barker: 377-6484