Number: RL33822
Title: The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000:Forest Service Payments to Counties
Authors: Ross W. Gorte, Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division 
Abstract: The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-393) provided an alternative system for compensating counties for the taxexempt status of most national forests, managed by the Forest Service (FS) in the Department of Agriculture, and some public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Department of the Interior. The law authorizing these payments expired at the end of FY2006. The 109th Congress considered bills to reauthorize the program, but did not enact reauthorizing legislation. The 110th Congress extended the payments for one year, then enacted legislation to reauthorize the program for four years and to modify the formula for allocating the payments. This report describes the issues that Congress has debated, and may again arise when the program expires in 2011, and explains the changes enacted for the program.
Pages: 10
Date: October 8, 2008