6
area news
october11
2011
Oregon Leadership Unites Behind Legislation to Extend
County Payments Program
Multi-year Renewal Could Mean More than $400 million for Oregon Counties
All six members of the Oregon
Congressional delegation – U.S.
Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden,
U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer,
Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg
Walden – and Governor John Kitzhaber
expressed unified support on Wednesday
October 5, 2011 for a county payments
agreement they called “essential to
ensuring a lifeline for Oregon’s rural
communities.”
For
months,
Oregon’s
Congressional delegation has been
working with Senate Energy Committee
Chairman Jeff Bingaman on a way to
extend the Secure Rural Schools and
Community Self Determination Act –
commonly known as the county payments
law -- and put rural communities back to
work in the woods.
The
Oregon
delegation
announced that an agreement has been
reached and that Chairman Bingaman
will be introducing bipartisan legislation
to extend the program for an additional
five years at a level of funding necessary
to support essential county services.
The Secure Rural Schools and
Community Self Determination Act of
2000, originally authored by Wyden and
U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) in
1999, established a six-year payment
formula for counties that receive revenue-
sharing payments from the United States
Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) lands. Based
in part on historic timber receipts, the
formula established a stable source of
revenue to be used for education, roads
and various other county services in
rural areas. Over 700 counties in 41
states have received funding under the
original county payments law, which
was allowed to expire in September
2006.
The law was extended in 2008
after a protracted effort by the Oregon
delegation to renew the program, but that
extension ended on Friday September
30, and Oregon counties are slated to
receive their last checks early next year.
Without renewed funding, counties will
have to consider drastic budget cuts
that have in the past included: four-
day school weeks, releasing prisoners
from county jails and laying off county
sheriffs.
The governor and members
of the Oregon delegation issued the
following joint statement on the agreed
upon legislation:
“In the current budget
environment, renewing even essential
programs is an uphill battle. But without
the financial certainty offered by the
county payments program, there is no
future for Oregon’s rural counties.
“The bipartisan legislation that
Chairman Bingaman will introduce
next week proposes to give Oregon
communities the level of assistance they
need to maintain critical county services
– like schools, sheriffs and search and
rescue efforts – while we work for
longer-term solutions on the O&C lands
and other federal forests. The process
has already begun in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
“While passage of this
legislation is not guaranteed, gaining
Chairman Bingaman’s support is an
important step in our effort to get the
job done. Part of that effort includes
educating our colleagues in Congress
on the unique challenges facing a state
where the federal government owns
more than 50 percent of the land -- as
well as the historic commitment the
federal government made to those
communities.
“Our unified effort underscores
how essential it is for Congress and the
administration to honor that commitment
and Oregonians can count on us to
continue to work together to get the job
done.”
Columbia County Cultural
Two County Officers Honored
of a Rainier Police Officer and the two
Coalition Awards 2011/12 Grants awarded The Oregon State Marine Board
its Life Saving Award at their launched a sheriff’s boat from Rainier.
The Columbia County Cultural
Coalition has announced the following
grant awards for 2011/2012 grant
year for community cultural activities
throughout the County:
Clatskanie Senior Citizens - Victorian
Castle Christmas Celebration focus is
on the Community, Seniors and K-12
kids.
Friends of the Clatskanie Library
– Carver Writing Festival, “Poem in
Your Pocket” – Writing, Rhythm and
Rhyme.
Friends of the Vernonia Public
Library – Community Reads 2012,
Oregon Author books with related
activities for youth and Older Adults.
Caples House Museum – Life &
Times of a Pioneer Doctor Field Trip
for Columbia County 5th graders
St. Helens Arts and Cultural
Commission – Free Art and Craft
Workshop – One class per quarter,
focusing on children and young adults.
Shoestring Community Players –
Children’s Theater Camp, March 2012
for K-8th graders
Vernonia Pioneer Museum – Covered
outdoor display area on museum
grounds for logging equipment artifacts,
Phase 1, site preparation.
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This year’s Cultural Coalition
grant projects address the 2011 – 2013
priorities established by the Coalition:
• Protect existing cultural assets
• Focus on youth to help them
experience culture in a variety of ways.
• Focus on elders to utilize their
memories to record our heritage and to
seed the future
• Increase access to and participation in
cultural events and activities
This year’s grant awards
provide the project funding totaling
$28,862, with $8,750 being provided
from the Oregon Cultural Trust in the
form of a grant to the Columbia County
Cultural Coalition, and $20,112 being
provided as match dollars by those
organizations awarded the above grants.
The CCCC requests grant
applications on a yearly basis for
worthy community and cultural
programs and projects. Those interested
in finding out about the CCCC and
its activities can find out information
about the organization at http://www.
columbiacultural.org./ or by contacting
Janet Wright at 503-397-1035.
annual end-of-season
Less than half an
conference to Columbia
hour after receiving
County Sherif Officer
the call, the deputy
Russ George and
and police officer
Rainier Police Officer
hauled two men from
Ron Larson, after the
the river in a semi-
two teamed up to pull
conscious state.
two people from the
Both
men
river last May.
were
suffering
“I am very
from hypothermia
honored to work with
and were nearly
such dedicated public
u n c o n s c i o u s .
Ron Larson (Left) and Russ George
safety professionals,”
Paramedics at the
(right) received Life Saving Awards
said
Sheriff
Jeff from the Oregon State Marine Board scene estimated that
Dickerson. “Even with
only a few minutes
the reduced resources we have to provide more in the cold water and the two would
public safety services in our county, it have lost consciousness completely.
is people like Ron and Russ who make
“This is a case of quick action
a difference every day for good in our by our deputy who was off-duty when
county.”
he got the call and a team effort with
The two officers rescued two adult our dispatch center, the Rainier Police
males from the Columbia River after Department and Columbia River Fire
the men’s canoe capsized near Prescott and Rescue,” said Columbia County
Beach. Columbia 911 Dispatch received Sheriff Jeff Dickerson at the time of the
a call from residents in Prescott who said rescue. “Thanks to an agreement with
they heard screams for help coming from Columbia River Fire, we have a boat
the river. There were no deputies on stored in the Rainier area that allowed
duty at the time of the call, but a marine us to get on the water quickly. It was
patrol deputy was called in to attempt the difference between life and death
the rescue. The deputy obtained the help tonight,” the sheriff said.
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