After nearly two years with no Secure Rural Schools checks coming in, Oregon’s rural counties are finally set to see nearly $100 million flow their way again. The U.S. Forest Service will send roughly $48.6 million for the current fiscal year, and senators say an additional almost $49 million will arrive as retroactive payments for 2024. The money is earmarked for county roads, public safety, schools and forest health projects that local officials say were pushed to the brink during the lapse.
Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office and the Forest Service laid out the FY2025 allocation in mid April, and a February Merkley statement detailed the retroactive 2024 payments, as described by Merkley’s office and in Merkley’s release. Taken together, those announcements land near the “nearly $100 million” figure cited in local coverage, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Congress signed off on reauthorizing the program late last year after it expired in 2023 and payments stopped in early 2024, according to the legislative record on Congress.gov.
Where the money goes
The Forest Service’s FY2025 county report breaks down Title I, II and III allocations and lists Oregon’s statewide and county by county totals that will steer how jurisdictions spend the new money, according to the U.S. Forest Service report. Senators said the $48.6 million covers Forest Service payments to roughly 30 counties, while separate Bureau of Land Management payments for the 18 O&C counties in western Oregon are expected to be announced on a different track.
Local fallout: schools and services
The funding gap has already left a mark. Wind River Middle School in Carson, Washington, was closed for the 2025–26 school year in part because the district lost Secure Rural Schools payments, local reporting shows. OPB documented the district’s layoffs and school consolidation. Nationally, the program has delivered roughly $7 billion to more than 700 counties and 4,400 school districts since 2000, a tally highlighted in regional coverage by the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Reaction and next steps
“Young Oregonians who deserve quality schools, and all Oregonians counting on safe roads as well as dependable public safety will all benefit from these investments,” Sen. Ron Wyden said, according to Wyden’s office, as lawmakers press agencies to push the money out quickly. The Bureau of Land Management still has to announce its O&C payments, and the Department of the Interior’s budget documents spell out how those BLM calculations and historic O&C receipts factor into county totals, as shown in the DOI budget justification.
County commissioners and school boards will now turn to Title I dollars to shore up operating budgets and use Title II and III money for restoration and wildfire mitigation projects, guided by the federal spreadsheets and local priorities. Officials say the funds should arrive in the coming weeks, giving many rural districts a chance to reverse recent cuts, but leaders warn that without a permanent funding fix, the year‑to‑year uncertainty will keep complicating long‑term planning.
