A rock crusher Wallowa County recently bought for about $400,000 sits in the county Road Department shop while getting some routine maintenance May 30, 2024. The cost of the crusher was one item the county had to pay for with federal Secure Rural Schools Act funding.

ENTERPRISE — Keeping its roads, schools and many other elements of county government functioning have various officials chomping at the bit to ensure promised money comes through, particularly that promised under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act.

The act annually makes up for lost “stumpage” fees that were paid to localities before the federal government changed in the 1990s the way it provided money from timber sales to the new SRS Act. The SRS money provides funds for road maintenance, schools, youth job training, wildfire prevention, watershed restoration and habitat conservation. These funds are allocated from the U.S. Forest Service, with more expected from the Bureau of Land Management.

But county Commissioner Susan Roberts is concerned about the fact that Congress hasn’t apportioned the SRS money for the 2024-25 fiscal year. She’s the commissioner who most closely oversees the county Road Department, which gets a major portion of the SRS money.

The SRS money provides about $1 million to the county each year — 75% of which goes to the county Road Department and 25% for schools.

This year, Wallowa County is expected to receive about $1,082,694 of the $47.7 million the Forest Service will provide for Oregon counties.

That will mean about $699,525 for the Road Department and about $233,175 for county schools. Another $150,000 goes toward elements of various title programs. Roberts emphasized that such figures are approximate.

She said she’s been told a senator from another state is hoping to get it tacked onto this year’s farm bill.

“I have heard that one of the senators is going to try to hook it to the farm bill,” she said. “Not one of ours, but somebody’s senator.”

Molly Prescott, a spokeswoman for Sen. Jeff Merkley, said of the mandatory funding that “Secure Rural Schools payments are critical for Oregon’s rural communities because these investments provide essential support for our schools, key infrastructure projects, public safety, and wildfire mitigation efforts. Sen. Merkley is certainly open to exploring all avenues — including possible inclusion in the upcoming farm bill— to ensure the federal government keeps its promise to continue this vital program.”

Oregon’s senior senator, Ron Wyden, also had a comment through a spokesman.

“Sen. Wyden is all in on the bill’s reauthorization through any vehicle, including a potential farm bill,” said Hank Stern, Wyden’s spokesman. “He is co-leading its reauthorization along with Sen. Merkley and Idaho Sens. Crapo and Risch, working to pass the bill out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in December on a bipartisan basis.”

The Idaho senators both are Republicans, while Oregon’s senators are Democrats, making this a bipartisan effort from the Northwest.

“Simply put, he is working every option to get the SRS program reauthorized because of its proven success for Oregon,” Stern said.

Landon Braden, superintendent for the Wallowa County Education Service District, confirmed the more than $233,000 the district expects but was unavailable for further comment.

Roberts said the county Road Department already has started spending its SRS money. One of the larger expenditures was a rock crusher that cost a little over $400,000.

“You always want to be out ahead of it because you never know if Congress is going to reauthorize that one or not,” she said, adding that’s why senators are hoping to get the SRS Act tacked onto the farm bill.