Counties are responsible for providing critical services to residents and visitors within our jurisdictions, such as road maintenance, education, public safety and emergency services. Historically, rural communities relied on a share of receipts from timber harvests to supplement local funding for schools and roads. However, during the 1980s, new national policies, economic changes and industry shifts caused a severe decline in timber revenue. These declines reduced critical revenue-generated activities across public lands, subsequently reducing revenues for rural counties and school districts that rely on forest management activities conducted on U.S.Forest Service (USFS) system and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) O&C lands.
In response to this decline, the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program was enacted in 2000 (P.L. 106-393) to stabilize payments to counties and compensate for lost revenues by anchoring payments to historical timber receipts rather than current harvest levels. When SRS lapses, counties revert to the 1908 Act 25% payment and the 1937 O&C Act 75% payment (18 Oregon O&C counties), which averaged one-third of the SRS amount in FY 2024, forcing counties and schools to cut basic government functions that have no alternative funding source. The SRS program delivers critical relief to timber-dependent counties that rely on these funds to maintain essential services, provide quality education and transition toward long-term fiscal stability.
Access the Secure Rural Schools Resource Hub.
National Association of Counties