HJM25

In the early 1900s, the federal government established a system of public lands, placing privately owned lands into federal ownership managed predominately by the Bureau of Land Management. Congress recognized that its decision to secure timberlands in federal ownership would deprive counties of opportunities for economic development and tax revenues, so arrangements were made to compensate the adversely affected rural areas with a portion of the revenues received from federal lands.
The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (ACT)(Public Law 106-393) established a revenue-sharing formula based on historical timber receipts from Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service lands. The Act allowed counties to elect to receive payments based on the average payment for the highest three years between 1986 and 1990. Payments were to be used to support education, roads, and other services in 729 counties the Act assists in 41 states across the nation.
The Act expired in 2006 and was extended in 2007 for one year. In 2008, the Act was extended for an additional four years through the end of 2011,
President Obama included reauthorization of county payments in his proposed FY 2012 budget. House Joint Memorial 25, urging Congress to pass legislation to reauthorize and extend the Act for an additional 10-year period, is a step toward eventual reauthorization.

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