Ryan Zinke to Forest Service: Montana has Waited Long Enough, Expedite SRS

Press Release

Yesterday in a letter to Thomas Tidwell, the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke called on the federal government to expedite the delivery of much-needed SRS payments to Montana's rural communities, rather than wait the 45 days the recently passed law allows. The full text of Zinke's letter can be read here.

"Montana's rural communities have waited long enough; I urge the U.S. Forest Service to expedite SRS payments to communities who have seen their economies decimated due to federal mismanagement of our timberlands," said Rep. Zinke about the letter.

Earlier this year, Rep. Zinke voted for H.R. 2, The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which was signed into law by President Obama on April 16, 2 015. The bipartisan bill included a vital two-year extension of SRS funding.

In the letter Zinke wrote: "Because Congress did not reauthorize SRS last Congress, rural counties like Beaverhead County received a measly $17,985.33 for its FY 2014-15 total. Such a diminutive amount of money was expected to be used collectively to fund schools, transportation and infrastructure projects."

Zinke continued, "With all schools combined across the state, the total budget for county-wide transportation hit a mere $197,432.82. I firmly believe rural counties in Montana and across the nation deserve certainty from their government, not political games that devastate the local communities."

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