Rural area payoffs may be extended

WASHINGTON – Payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging would continue for five more years under a deal announced Tuesday by Senate Democrats.

The deal, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other Western senators, would authorize about $2.8 billion to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act through 2011.

Another $1.9 billion would be directed to rural states through a proposal to fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, which reimburses state and local governments for federally owned property.

“With Senator Reid’s leadership we have crafted a lifeboat to keep rural communities afloat,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Details were still being finalized, but lawmakers said the plan would allocate $526 million in emergency spending to extend the law for one year. The so-called county payments program helps pay for schools, roads and public safety in 700 rural counties in 39 states, with most of the money going to the West.

The Senate plan differs from a House plan that calls for spending $400 million to extend the program for one year.

The Senate plan would top the House plan by $126 million in the first year and reauthorize the program for four more years under a formula that gradually decreases overall payments and shifts money away from the three states that receive the most money: Oregon, California and Washington. Those states would still receive the largest individual shares, but their percentage of the overall program would decrease.

Oregon received more than $149 million of $385 million distributed nationally last year by the Forest Service, far surpassing No. 2 California, which received $66 million. Washington state was third at $42 million; Idaho got about $21 million.