SAN LUIS VALLEY — This week, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, along with a bi-partisan group of four other senators, introduced legislation that, if passed, will reauthorize the U.S. Forest Service’s Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Program (SRS) through September of 2022.
The program, which contributes to funding essential services in rural communities where federal land is located including 43 rural counties in Colorado, expired last September. The final payment, under the current authorization, is scheduled for April, less than two months from now.

First introduced in 2000, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act provides much needed support for public schools, public roads, forest health projects, emergency services and other essential county services for more than 775 counties across the nation. Rural counties that contain tax-exempt public lands have historically relied on a percentage of timber receipts from these public lands to assist in funding public education and county services.
As the revenue from timber harvests has declined, funding from SRS has been vital in bridging the gap for those rural counties.
For years, Sen. Bennet has stood in support of the reauthorization and funding of SRS. In 2017, he introduced legislation to reauthorize the program, successfully security a two-year reauthorization in the 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill. Then, in 2018, Bennet and a bi-partisan group of senators encouraged leadership in the Senate to include reauthorization for SRS in any end-of-year package. The following year, Bennet supported legislation to extend SRS through fiscal year 2020. Later that year, Congress authorized funding for fiscal years 2019 and 2020.
“The Secure Rural Schools program is important across Colorado, providing necessary investments in schools, roads and emergency services,” Bennet said. “It is Congress’ responsibility to extend this program and provide local governments with the resources they need and certainty for the communities that rely on these funds.”
In addition to Bennet, Senators Crapo (R-Idaho), Wyden (D-Oregon), Risch (R-Idaho) and Merkeley (D-Oregon) who introduced the bill, a bi-partisan group of 14 additional senators signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation.