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Congressman Greg Walden speaks in front of nearly 200 county and school administrators from Oregon and across the nation to continue the push to reauthorize legislation for county roads and schools |
"The failure of Congress to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act amounts to a breach of faith to more than 600 forested counties across America." - Congressman Greg Walden
THE HISTORY
When the national forests were created a century ago, the federal government recognized that it needed to make a commitment to the people who lived near those lands. In 1908, the federal government began sharing 25 percent of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) receipts and 50 percent of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) receipts with counties in any state that hosted federal land from which timber is cut. These payments were used to help finance rural schools and roads.
Toward the mid-to-late-nineties, however, the principal source of those revenues, federal timber sales, declined by over 70 percent nationwide. Consequently, the corresponding revenues shared with rural counties throughout the country declined precipitously, hurting school and transportation funding. Oregon's county budgets were hit particularly hard.
In 2000, Congress stepped in and passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which aimed to make counties whole by funding them at levels consistent with their historical timber receipts. In 2006, the act expired and the money dried up until the Oregon congressional delegation secured a one-year extension. In 2008, the money again dried up.
UPDATE - COUNTY TIMBER PAYMENTS EXTENDED FOR FOUR YEARS
From impassioned floor speeches to parliamentary maneuvers to new funding proposals, Congressman Walden used every available power to keep the profile of the county payments issue high in the halls of Congress. That work paid off as the House majority leadership finally relented and agreed to a four-year extension of the crucial funds, along with a four-year extension of Payments in Lieu of Taxes. The President sign the legislation into law on October 3.
You can watch Congressman Walden on the floor of the House urging for renewal of the vital funding here and here.
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