O&C Funds, Jan. 11

The BLM has announced the distribution of over $19 million to 18 counties in western Oregon. These payments follow a formula established in the 1937 Oregon and California (O&C) Lands Act and the Coos Bay Wagon Road (CBWR) Act, both of which authorize timber receipt-based payments to western Oregon counties, and both of which remain in effect following the expiration of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. Payments made through the authority of the O&C Lands Act and CBWR Act are essential to O&C counties and help offset county timber and tax revenue not generated by Federally-managed forests. The counties use these funds for county services such as law enforcement, road maintenance, health services, schools, libraries, and other county services. The O&C Lands Act provides that 50 percent of receipts from the sale of timber on O&C lands are distributed among the 18 O&C counties including Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington, and Yamhill counties. Coos and Douglas counties have Coos Bay Wagon Road and O&C lands within their boundaries, so payments to those counties are covered by both the 1937 and 1939 statutes. The Oregon and California Railroad Revested Lands, known as the O&C Lands, lie in a checkerboard pattern through eighteen counties in western Oregon. These lands contain more than 2.4 million acres of forests with a diversity of plant and animal species, recreation areas, mining claims, grazing lands, cultural and historical resources, scenic areas, wild and scenic rivers, and wilderness. Additional information about the BLM’s forestry program is available online at: https://www.blm.gov.