Senator Jeff Merkley sent a letter to Interior Secretary Salazar requesting his department release that portion of the Secure Rural Schools funds that were incorrectly sequestered.

The Department of Interior was only supposed to retain 5.1 percent of funds from the SRS account, but the department withheld 10 percent that was to be paid to the 18 O and C Counties including Josephine.

The Senator put the dollar amount at approximately $2 million. The check to Josephine County was $206,000 less because of sequestration.