Montana delegation backs reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools funding

Wednesday, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers sent a letter to House leadership seeking urgent reauthorization of the “Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Program,” which provided 32 Montana counties with $16 million from the U.S. Forest Service in 2023. 

All four members of Montana’s federal delegation signed the letter Dec. 3 seeking the funding as a standalone measure or attached to broad, year-end funding legislation. 

But that funding expired in 2023, and was not reauthorized during budget negotiations last year. 

And despite a bill co-sponsored by Montana Sens. Steve Daines and Time Sheehy, passing the Senate in  June, the House has yet to take up a vote. 

The SRS program helps counties with large swaths of public, tax-exempt forest land that previously received revenue from timber sales. The federal government has a funding formula to share 25% of revenue generated on federal land based on economic activity, timber harvest levels and other considerations that vary by county, with payments going toward rural schools, road maintenance and other programs that serve the counties. 

“Rural counties, parishes, and boroughs across the country are already facing the impact of the program’s expiration,” the letter states. “The SRS program underscores the vital partnership between federal land management and local government services, supporting everything from wildfire mitigation and forest health to the maintenance of roads and support of public schools. With longstanding and strong bipartisan support behind SRS, Congress must reaffirm its commitment to these rural counties.”

In Montana, Northwest counties, the heart of the once dominant timber industry, receive the most money. In 2023, Lincoln County received $4 million, Sanders received $1.6 million and Flathead received $1.2 million.