WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 -- Sen. Jeff Merkley issued the following press release:
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today announced that nearly $49 million in retroactive federal funding from the U.S. Forest Service for fiscal year 2024 will be coming to Oregon counties following the passage of their bipartisan bill late last year to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program, with more to come when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces its payments for the 18 Oregon & California counties (https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/forests-and-woodlands/oc-lands).
Wyden first authored the law that created the SRS program in 2000. Funding for the program lapsed in September 2023, and counties in Oregon and nationwide h...