LEROY, Mich. (March 19, 2008) — One Michigan district has found a way to ease the state-wide funding pinch — trade in some of its forest for a brand-new school bus.

Due to a 40-year-old consolidation, the Pine River Area Schools, some 80 miles north of Grand Rapids, owns 600 acres of forest. Last week, the district sold and clear-cut nearly 20 acres of Plantation Red Pine in that forest for $62,000, according to district business manager Eva Lucas.

That wasn’t quite enough to pay for the $75,000 cost of a brand-new Thomas Built Buses C2, but it helped, said transportation director Rob Sibary. The bus, which joins a fleet of around 20 buses, should arrive in August.

Rick Lucas, a public service forester for the area conservation region, helped the district assess the land. Lucas, Eva’s second cousin by marriage, said he advised the district to sell the trees to thin the forest and plant anew.

When the snow melts, Lucas will help the district find someone to plant new trees. Lucas said it should take 30 years for the trees to reach maturity, long after the new bus has retired from service.