Timber payments for Oregon counties clears last congressional hurdle

By Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian
September 26, 2013

The Senate quickly approved a revived county timber payments program on Thursday, sending the bill on to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The final congressional action was expected following a vote Wednesday in the House. The federal timber payments -- which could bring as much as $100 million a year to Oregon counties -- were included in a bill that ensures continued sales of helium from federal stockpiles.

Several counties around the state have come to rely heavily on the federal money to pay for a variety of local services, including law enforcement and roads. All told, 33 counties will share in the money.

The program, known as the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, was first passed by Congress in 2000 to help communities affected by the loss of logging revenue because of declining timber harvests in federal forests.

Oregon lawmakers have worked hard to keep the program going, and this would mark the fourth time it has been renewed since it first expired in 2006.

Three Oregon congressman -- Democrats Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader and Republican Greg Walden -- are promoting legislation that passed the House aimed at increasing timber harvests on western Oregon federal forests that they say is a more sustainable form of economic development for rural counties.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says he is working on his own legislation regarding management of those federal forests, which were once owned by the now-defunct Oregon & California Railroad.

Wyden, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, attached the county payments legislation to the helium bill, a measure that had wide support in Congress.