April 17, 2020 10:30 a.m.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has announced the issuance of $28.4 million in payments to 18 counties in western Oregon as part of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act extension.
A release from the Interior Department said the funds will go directly to the counties to support investments in education, infrastructure, public safety, health services and other critical expenditures made by those jurisdictions.
Bernhardt said the federal government has a multiple-use and sustained yield mandate to manage public lands for the benefit of the American people. He said “the Trump Administration is committed to increasing timber production to support economic growth and forest health”. He said this program is one way the agency is “being a good neighbor and supporting western communities”.
The Bureau of Land Management administers the SRS program along with the U.S. Forest Service. BLM Deputy Director for Policy and Programs William Pendley said the two agencies manage most of the federal lands in western Oregon. He said the department is committed to supporting local communities through the program and “by facilitating sustainable development of timber and other natural resources from public lands”.
The release said the BLM manages the SRS program in Oregon and California Railroad Reinvested Lands, known as the O&C lands, in concert with the Forest Service. Those lands lie in a checkerboard pattern through 18 counties in western Oregon. The lands contain more than 2.4 million acres of forests. SRS payments are made to over 700 counties across the United States, according to a formula set up by Congress.
Congressman Greg Walden said having helped to create the SRS program about two decades ago and having led the House effort to fund it over the last several sessions of Congress, he’s glad it continues to provide help for rural counties and public schools. Walden said while the funding is needed, what’s really needed is to reform forest management policies so the size and severity of wildfires can be reduced, good paying jobs can be produced, and tax revenues gained by the forest counties. Walden said he looks forward to continuing to work with his colleagues in Congress and the Trump Administration to achieve that goal.