By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
December 6, 2007

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden disagrees with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the county payments program should end any time soon.

During a visit to Portland last week, Pelosi, D-Calif., was asked if the federal compensation should continue.

“Where we go from here is to see how to phase this system out,” Pelosi told reporters.

Walden, R-Ore., has been working with other members of the Oregon delegation to gain Congressional approval for at least another four to five years of funding. The official, who makes his home in Hood River, issued this statement after learning about Pelosi’s Nov. 27 comment:

“In two weeks, the final checks will be sent to America’s rural counties and, after that, the pink slips will be sent to county employees, law enforcement and teachers. I am disappointed that the Speaker came to Oregon not with a solution for honoring the federal government’s commitment to forested communities, but with the notion that it is time for the program to end.

“This is just another example of this Congress’ dysfunctional nature, and it is time that the Congress, led by Speaker Pelosi, finds a way to support rural America. Time has run out.”

Walden said on Dec. 14, the final federal checks will be cut and then 32 of Oregon’s 36 counties face an uncertain economic future. These areas received more than $273 million in 2006 to offset lost timber receipts from national forests. Walden’s Second Congressional District encompasses 18 of the affected rural counties.

He contends that Congress owes the money to counties that have seen a decline in jobs and revenue because of federal environmental policies.

Without the payments, Hood River County loses $1.7 million in road maintenance funds. The state coffers also lose the county’s share of $580,000 for schools. In addition, $50,000-$131,000 will no longer be available to pay for local search and rescue operations — and equipment upgrades to aid these efforts — in the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood National Forest.

Sixty-one percent of Hood River County’s land base is in federal ownership. County Commission Chair Ron Rivers said Congress should provide some type of funding in return for restricting the tax base.

“If something was taken away from us then the federal government should be required to give something back,” he said.

Last spring, Walden delivered a series of short speeches on the House floor about the plight of rural areas without federal assistance. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., joined him in gathering 92 signatures on a petition to include the county payments in a supplemental spending bill. The political battle was also engaged by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore.

Federal laws of 1908 and 1937 specified that the government share harvest receipts from national forests with counties. These communities were allotted 25 percent of the U.S. Forest Service receipts and 50 percent of Bureau of Land Management receipts. The payments were dedicated primarily for schools and roads, but could also be used for search and rescue needs and limited ecosystem restoration.

By the mid- to late-1980s, wildlife habitat protection regulations had drastically reduced harvest levels. And payments dropped by more than 70 percent nationwide.

In 2000, Walden was the only Oregon member of the House to co-sponsor legislation to correct this imbalance for six years. He advocated for giving timber-dependent communities time to make an economic adjustment to the decline in harvest levels.

The formula for payments was established on harvest levels during three high years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act expired in December 2006. The funding was extended through the end of 2007 after Walden “raised a ruckus” about the possible closure of libraries in Jackson County and other program losses across the state.