At Hearing, Cantwell Urges Swift Renewal of Critical County Payments Program

Bipartisan legislation would extend program, secure vital school, road, and emergency service funds for hundreds of rural timber communities

WASHINGTON, DC - Thursday, at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called for swift approval of bipartisan legislation to extend the successful County Payments program. The bill, introduced in January by Senators Cantwell and Ron Wyden (D-OR), and now cosponsored by 10 other senators, would renew the Secure Rural Schools program which provides critical support for schools and emergency services in communities that have traditionally depended on revenue from Forest Service timber harvests. The program expired at the end of fiscal year 2006. Without an extension of the initiative, dozens of communities across Washington state will see millions of dollars in much-needed revenue dry up. (County-by-county figures follow bellow.)

"This indispensable program has expired, and unless Congress acts soon, it will be a severe blow to many Washington state communities," said Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "Without this vital safety net, rural counties across our state will lose almost $50 million dollars a year in irreplaceable funding for their schools, roads, and emergency services. Skamania County in southwest Washington is 80 percent National Forest land and much of the remaining 20 percent belongs to the state, so ending the program would force this small county to lay-off an estimated 75 employees. Now is not the time to pull the rug from under these counties as they work to strengthen and diversify their economies."

National Forest land cannot be taxed by counties or other state and local jurisdictions. In place of taxes, a 100-year-old Forest Service policy provides forest counties with a share of the revenue—25 percent of gross receipts—generated by timber harvests on federal land within the county. Communities can use these funds for schools, roads, and essential services. As timber harvests declined during the 1990s due to changing Forest Service policies, hundreds of counties experienced a severe revenue loss. Since 2001, the County Payments program has helped areas hit hardest by declining timber sales, providing more than $2 billion for schools and roads in more than 700 communities nationwide.

The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Reauthorization Act, introduced in January, would reauthorize the County Payments program through 2014. Cantwell also supported similar legislation last year, and has worked year after year to fully fund the program. Thursday's hearing by the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests is the first major action on this legislation during the 110th Congress.

County Payment funds received by Washington state counties during fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006:

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