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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today that it has issued the final payment to the 18 western Oregon, Oregon & California (O&C) counties, under the one-year Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act extension, pursuant to Public Law 110-28. Under the one-year extension $116,864,821 was paid the 18 O&C counties in western Oregon. “Implementation of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act has established cooperative working relationships between the people who care about public lands and the Federal agencies. It has resulted in accomplishments that benefit both the counties and the Federal government while improving existing infrastructure, land health, and water quality," said Oregon/Washington State Director Ed Shepard. Under the O&C Lands Act of 1937, the BLM paid 50 percent of timber receipts to the general fund of 18 O&C counties in western Oregon. The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act was enacted to provide a predictable payment to counties, in lieu of funds derived from Federal timber harvests. The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, originally passed into law in 2000, the BLM has paid 18 counties in western Oregon over $110 million annually to replace receipts lost due to reduced timber harvest. Through 2007 Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act funds totaling $46 million have been allocated to over 600 projects on BLM lands in western Oregon. Many projects have also received cooperator funding, and have included trail maintenance, culvert replacement or removal, soil improvement, vegetation/density management, wildfire hazard reduction, stream channel enhancement, and control of noxious and exotic weeds. Additional information about the O&C Lands Act of 1937 is available online at: blm.gov/or/rac/ctypayhistory.php