SISTERS, OR -- Oregon counties that depend on funding from the Secure Rural Schools Act are wondering whether they'll get support from the Trump Administration. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) joined more than 80 members of Congress to urge the Office of Management and Budget to include the program in the President’s 2018 budget.
The Secure Rural Schools Act expired in 2015; eligible counties and schools received their last authorized payment, last year. Following a Sisters town hall, this week, Wyden told KBND News rural counties need to be able to make money from timber on their land. "We also have got to get the harvest up in a sustainable fashion."
He says he's talked with President Trump's nominee for Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, and feels he has an understanding of the issue. Zinke is a Montana Congressman who graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor's Degree in geology.
