US Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon announced that they and two Idaho senators along with 17 other Senate colleagues have reintroduced bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Program (SRS).
SRS is administered for counties hosting both US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management forested lands. If passed, the bill would be extended through Fiscal Year 2026.
Wyden, Merkley and Republican Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch introduced the legislation in the 118th Congress and the Senate unanimously passed it in November 2024. However, it did not receive a vote in the US House of Representatives before the end of the congressional session.
The senators say the program needs to be reauthorized as soon as possible to avoid a gap in funding for rural counties that rely on the program for needed services.
Congress first enacted SRS in 2000 to financially assist counties with public, tax-exempt forestlands. The US Forest Service and BLM administer the funds. The totals are based on a formula including economic activity, timber harvest levels and other considerations that vary from county to county.
SRS payments are critical to maintain education programs for many rural counties that contain federal lands exempt from property taxes. More than two-thirds of the land in Josephine County is federally- managed.
