By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
May 31, 2007

Hood River County Administrator David Meriwether is relieved that federal funding has been revived — at least temporarily — for communities hurt by logging cutbacks.

“Everyone can now breathe a little easier but this is certainly a wakeup call,” he said.

“I think we all need to brace for a re-distribution in these revenues down the road. We need to get away from this level of dependency.”

On Thursday, Congress approved a one-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act. With that action, the Senate and House have allocated $425 million for counties in 39 states. The money is included in a $120 billion emergency supplemental bill to cover war spending and disaster relief.

President George W. Bush was poised to sign the bill as of press time on Friday. A veto was unlikely because, unlike previous legislation, the bill contains no timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq. Instead, language has been added that threatens to withhold U.S. aid dollars to Iraq if leaders fail to make progress on political and security reforms.

Meriwether said the revenue boost provides a temporary reprieve from worries about the budget axe. He is concerned about the county ending up in the same limbo next year over $1.7 million for road maintenance and $50,000-$131,000 for search and rescue operations.

Last week, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., personally urged President Bush to support a long-term fix. Walden, who makes his home in Hood River, also attempted unsuccessfully to push two amendments through the House Rules Committee for a longer extension than the one-year agreement.

During committee hearings, both proposals were voted down 9-4 with all Republicans voting for the amendments and all Democrats voting against.

“The work to secure a long-term extension and reauthorization of these funds must continue,” Walden said on the House floor. “I will not give up. I will not quit. I will not rest. The Congress will be forced to address this issue over and over and over again until we reach agreement on a long-term solution.”

He and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., have introduced a bill to reauthorize county payments for seven more years. They believe timber-dependent counties need more time to make a viable economic transition into another industry.

For example, 61 percent of Hood River County’s land mass lies in federal ownership. So the local government has to cope with a reduction in the potential tax base as well as the loss of timber harvests in the Mount Hood National Forest and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

Wyden and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore, are lobbying for five more years of funding. Their plan decreases the amount paid out to rural counties by 10 percent a year over a four-year period. By 2011, the counties are expected to have made an economic shift and the funding falls off sharply.

Smith released a strong statement on Wednesday about the Houses’ rejection of the multi-year plan.

“A one-year extension is a band-aid when we need a blood transfusion. The House leadership dropped the ball on rural counties when they did not agree to the Senate’s long-term extension,” he said.

Meriwether said Oregon’s Congressional delegation has gone to bat for rural counties on every front. He credits their combined efforts for the probability of a one-year extension — and is hopeful they will continue to be successful in their efforts.

“They have never wavered and that is very commendable,” he said.

Meanwhile, with the budget stable for 2007-08, he is looking ahead to future revenue sources. The county is seeking to get into the renewable energy business, among other possibilities.