Linn County receives BLM and USFS payments

Late last week, BLM officials announced the agency sent $39.6 million to Oregon’s 18 O&C counties under the Secure Rural Schools program.

The total for Linn County: $1,207,564.76.

In all, 33 Oregon counties will receive a total of $107 million in timber payments for the 2013 fiscal year. The program will distribute a $329 million to more than 700 counties across the United States.

“The amount from the BLM may be a bit more than we had budgeted,” Wyatt said.

The funds were built into the current budget, which ends June 30, Wyatt said.

The county had already received more than $4.6 millon from the U.S. Forest Service’s share of the Secure Rural Schools Act.

Of that amount, about $4.3 million comes from the Title I program and 25 percent of that amount goes directly to local schools.

The Title III funds total $353,396.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service payments represent 25 percent of the receipts from the U.S. Forest Reserve generated by rentals and sales of timber and other forest resources during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2013.

“These payments mean more teachers in schools, patrols on the street and asphalt on the road, which is why I used every lever at my disposal to extend this lifeline for another year,” Sen. Ron Wyden said in a prepared statement. “I will continue to work until there are more jobs in the woods, and a long-term solution that gets Oregon’s counties off of the roller coaster of county payments.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley noted, “Today’s payments will make a big difference in communities across our state, but they are no substitute for a long-term plan to grow our rural economy.”

Rep. Peter DeFazio called the payments, “ ... good news for cash-strapped counties that are struggling to pay for vital county services like law enforcement and jail beds — and we are glad these critical payments are finally reaching the O&C counties, some of which are on the brink of insolvency. But we need a long-term solution.”

And Rep. Greg Walden agreed, noting that “It’s past time that we change federal forest policy to make it work for Oregon’s rural communities.”