Representative says cutting off Secure Rural Schools revenue would hurt Skamania County

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, said last week that the federal government’s failure to reauthorize a 25-year-old timber revenue program supporting rural counties would “devastate” Skamania County and its schools.

During a press conference held Feb. 20 at Mount Pleasant School in west Skamania County, the second-term congresswoman urged lawmakers to renew the U.S. Forest Service’s Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act of 2000. The U.S. Senate approved the program renewal in December, but it stalled in the House.

Perez said the program needed to be renewed by Jan. 31 to avoid impacting rural counties that rely on the federal revenues.

“This is craziness,” Perez said Thursday. “It’s penny wise and pound foolish. (I) will not go quietly along with this inattention from federal agencies and the federal government. I refuse to let federal inaction undermine the opportunities our kids have. I will keep fighting for this in Washington, D.C.”

The Secure Rural Schools program helps fund schools, roads and other public services, such as law enforcement, in 700 rural counties, including Skamania. These counties are rich in timber lands but lack the type of industry that generates tax revenues.

Perez said the program cost $253 million in 2024.

“I think Congress could find that sort of money at the same time we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on literally empty office buildings of federal agencies,” she said. “This has historically been a bipartisan, commonsense bill.”

Earlier this month, Perez and five other representatives co-sponsored H.R. 1383 in the House. The bill, which would extend the rural schools program, now awaits a hearing on the House floor.

Because the original deadline passed, the Senate may need to reauthorize the bill.

“I’m not sure that it would carry over from the Senate from last December when they passed it through, so they might need to do it again,” Perez said.

Schools

Mount Pleasant School leaders anticipated receiving $60,000 from the rural schools program when they passed the district’s $1.5 million 2024-25 budget. Administrators said Thursday that without those funds, they will need to transfer money from the district’s reserves and capital projects funds to avoid cutting staff or reducing programs ahead of the 2025-26 school year.

Mount Pleasant School Board member Liz Wilber said that if Mount Pleasant School, a K-8 school serving about 65 students in rural Washougal, were to close, taxpayers would become a part of the Washougal School District and pay “significantly higher” taxes.

“Our success is tied directly to the SRS funds that support our school,” board member Tannis Morris said. “These funds are not a luxury — they’re a necessity. We depend upon this essential funding. Without it, Mount Pleasant faces cuts to programs and staffing, and even the long-term sustainability of the school itself.”

If the federal government does not renew the program, the Stevenson-Carson School District, which serves 720 students in three Skamania County schools — Carson Elementary School, Wind River Middle School and Stevenson High School — would need to immediately reduce expenses by $800,000 and cut its 2025-26 school year budget by an additional $800,000.

Stevenson-Carson Superintendent Ingrid Colvard said the Secure Rural Schools funds account for about 5 percent of the district’s budget.

She described the potential loss of the money as “catastrophic” for her district.

“(It would be) taking away students’ opportunities to learn and to be supported in their futures,” Colvard said. “After all of those cuts, we would certainly have to take away opportunity and impact, and we don’t want to do that.”

Sheriff’s office

In Skamania County, less than 2 percent of the land can generate revenue for public services; Rural Schools program funding accounts for 5.1 percent of the county’s budget.

“Without SRS funding, the future of Skamania County and, specifically, public safety is bleak,” Skamania County Sheriff Summer Scheyer said.

She said her office was forced to cut several deputy patrol positions due to the lack of funding.

“Skamania County as we know it will not survive without either a robust timber harvest-management plan within the Forest Service or consistent and increased SRS funds,” Scheyer said. “Tourism does not provide a revenue stream to sustain our county. Timber harvest, or funds provided from the federal government in lieu of the harvest, will.”