After Congress allowed it to lapse three years ago, federal lawmakers in Montana helped push through legislation late in 2025 to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools program.

That means Lincoln County's bottom line will benefit with $3.6 million more in its coffers.

According to a recent press release by Congressman Ryan Zinke, the U.S. Forest Service announced it will distribute $248 million in Secure Rural Schools (SRS) payments for Fiscal Year 2025, including more than $10 million for Montana’s First Congressional District. 

The payments support critical infrastructure, rural schools and fund essential local services in communities surrounded by federally managed lands.

“Secure Rural Schools is a commitment to communities like ours that live with the reality of federal land ownership every day,” said Zinke. “When Washington controls the land, it has a responsibility to help keep our roads maintained, our schools open, and our first responders supported. Timber communities have been hit especially hard with radical environmental organizations and activist judges stalling timber sales and cutting off reliable sources of revenue. After the lapse in 2023, counties were left in limbo. This funding provides needed relief and restores a measure of certainty.”

Zinke sponsored the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025. It will ensure continued payments through Fiscal Year 2026 and restore lapsed funding. Montana Republican Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy passed the Senate in June and the House voted for it December. The authorization bill included retroactive payments for 2024, as well as reauthorizing the program through 2026.

Other Western Montana counties will also receive funds from the act. They include:

- Beaverhead County — $923,911.02

- Deer Lodge County — $178,409.30

- Flathead County — $973,971.32

- Gallatin County — $188,457.00

- Glacier County — $34,690.56

- Granite County — $594,901.75

- Lake County — $57,833.79

- Madison County — $314,327.84

- Mineral County — $857,047.13

- Missoula County — $523,289.83

- Pondera County — $72,007.32

- Powell County — $630,469.84

- Ravalli County — $611,524.64

- Sanders County — $1,436,653.22

- Silver Bow County — $124,603.93 

The Secure Rural Schools program was originally enacted in 2000 to offset declining revenues from timber harvests and other federal land uses. These funds are primarily directed toward schools, infrastructure, and public safety services in counties with significant federal land holdings.

After lapsing in 2023, the program was reauthorized through bipartisan legislation signed into law in December 2025. The reauthorization ensured retroactive payments and restored stability for rural communities that rely on these funds.

Congressman Zinke has been a consistent voice in advocating for responsible forest management, increased timber production and long-term certainty for programs like SRS that directly support Montana communities.