U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines introduced legislation to support Montana schools by reauthorizing the U.S. Forest Service’s Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Program (SRS) through Fiscal Year 2026. The program supports counties that formerly relied on timber receipts but no longer receive that funding due to the lack of logging projects. Montana’s Beaverhead, Broadwater, Carbon, Carter, Cascade, Chouteau, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Glacier, Golden Valley, Granite and Jefferson Counties have historically received payments through this program.
“Montana’s rural counties rely on SRS for school funding, road maintenance and more. This bipartisan legislation will give our rural communities that have large amounts of federal lands the support and resources they need to continue operating and it is crucial that the program is reauthorized,” said Daines.
Read the bill text HERE.
Background:
Congress enacted SRS in 2000 to financially assist counties with public, tax-exempt forestlands. The U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management administer the funds. The totals are based on a formula including economic activity, timber harvest levels and other considerations that vary from county to county. SRS payments are critical to maintain education programs for many rural counties that contain federal lands exempt from property taxes.
Daines joined Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Curtis (R-Utah), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jim Justice (R-W.V.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in introducing the legislation.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Rachel Dumke