After two years in limbo, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) was reauthorized for Fiscal Years 2024-26 with bipartisan support on Dec. 9.
In North Carolina, 26 out of the state’s 100 counties receive this federal funding — impacting some of our most rural school districts. Nineteen of those counties were declared federal disaster areas after Hurricane Helene.
The SRS program began in 2000, and can provide payments for roads, schools, projects on federal lands, and county projects. The funding comes from grazing, timber production, special use permits, and other activities that earn money in federally protected forests.
SRS funding is offered to over 700 counties in the United States and Puerto Rico that have large portions of National Forest System land within their boundaries.
According to report from 2024, North Carolina has nearly 1.3 million acres managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The formula for the fiscal year 2023 equated that amount of acres to $1,558,321 in SRS funding.
A bipartisan group of 22 senators reintroduced legislation in February of 2025 to reauthorize the U.S. Forest Service’s SRS through 2026. The last reauthorization of the program and its payments was for fiscal years 2021-23.
“Since its enactment, SRS has provided $7 billion in payments to more than 700 counties and 4,400 school districts across 40 states,” according to a February 2025 press release. “Without reauthorization, these critical payments will expire, leaving many counties struggling to fund schools, road maintenance, and emergency services.”
EdNC has been following the story of SRS since 2021. Here is our coverage:
Read more about Secure Rural Schools Program
What people are saying about the passage of SRS
According to The School Superintendents Association, this joint statement was released from Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pennsylvania, House Committee on Agriculture Chair, and Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-California, House Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture Chair:
“Today’s bipartisan passage of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act delivers long-overdue certainty for rural communities, schools, and public services that depend on these funds to survive. For too long, counties with federal land have seen an unfair decline in timber revenue through no fault of their own. This legislation ensures rural students and families aren’t left behind simply because of where they live.”
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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said, “The Secure Rural Schools Program has been a lifeline for rural communities across Oregon since I originally authored the program back in 2000. I’m relieved the House has finally done its job with the long-overdue passage of my bill to return the safety net for critical services to communities that need it the most.”
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Virginia, said, “This is a bipartisan, commonsense piece of legislation that directly delivers funds to rural communities with ties to national forest property. I am proud to support the reestablishment of the ‘Secure Rural Schools’ program.”
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association said in a press release: “I am thankful to every Member of Congress who stood up for America’s students and educators and championed this critical legislation. The bipartisan support — which will be needed again next year — will result in direct support to providing students, regardless of where they live, a well-rounded and robust education that inspires them, sparks their curiosity, and prepares them for the future.”
To find all of EdNC’s coverage of our rural school districts and the students that call them home, click here.
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