$15 million from renewed Forest Service program will support schools, roads in rural Washington

Apr. 26—Millions of dollars are coming to rural schools and communities in Washington near national forestland.

The U.S. Forest Service announced it will issue nearly $15.2 million to support rural schools, roads and other projects in the state through the Secure Rural Schools program.

The program, which helps counties offset revenue losses from tax-exempt forestland, was reauthorized for fiscal years 2021 through 2023 in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Forest Service allocated $232 million to more than 700 counties across the country this year.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is a cosponsor of legislation to renew the program .

"I'm glad to see this funding go out to our state to support rural schools, roads, emergency services, and so much else," Murray said in a statement. "The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reauthorized Secure Rural Schools and made major investments to help rural communities thrive — I'll keep working to build on those investments and support rural communities throughout our state."

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers reintroduced a companion bill in the House last year, and Sen. Maria Cantwell has also supported the program.

In Eastern Washington, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties will receive funding from Colville and Kaniksu national forests, while Asotin and Garfield counties receive funds from Umatilla National Forest.

The program will also distribute $21.5 million in Idaho. Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Latah and Shoshone counties in North Idaho receive funding from Coeur d'Alene, Kaniksu, Kootenai and St. Joe national forests.

While a majority of funds will go to schools, a portion also helps counties pay for roads.

Jill Shacklett, financial manager for Pend Oreille County, said the county budgets $250,000 for the program. That represents about 3% of the road department's budget.

Shacklett said it can be tricky to plan because they don't always know if the program will be renewed.

An even smaller portion of the funds goes to projects for fire protection, habitat conservation and a few other services.

As the Forest Service rapidly expanded in the early 1900s, Congress passed the Act of May 23, 1908, to help rural counties whose tax base was limited by the growing amount of federal land. The Forest Service uses a portion of its revenues from timber and other sources to fund the program, but after decades of declining revenues, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act in 2000 to stabilize the assistance for rural counties.

The Secure Rural Schools program is separate from Washington's K-12 Common Trust, which funds school construction from timber sales and other revenue generated on state land. Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal has suggested the state's program should focus more on rural schools, since much of the money currently goes to urban districts away from the communities where the state lands are located.

James Hanlon's reporting for The Spokesman-Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.