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Newhouse Applauds Interior Investment for Rural Communities

June 30, 2020

PILT payments to support local economies with federally-impacted land

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Bernhardt announced PILT payments for Central Washington's local communities:

"The federal government has a large footprint on our land in Central Washington, from national forests and federal grasslands to tribal reservations and the Hanford Site," said Rep. Newhouse. "These PILT payments go a long way to help local governments provide much-needed public services due to the reduced local tax base. Thank you, Secretary Bernhardt, for recognizing the needs of rural communities and issuing PILT payments for our counties."

PILT payments are made annually for tax-exempt Federal lands administered by U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) agencies including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), for lands administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's U.S. Forest Service (USFS); and for Federal water projects and some military installations.

Central Washington's counties received PILT payments in the following amounts:

Adams - $59,408 for 21,337 acres

Benton - $174,550 for 64,264 acres

Douglas - $164,608 for 59,204 acres

Franklin - $180,283 for 63,947 acres

Grant - $793,172 for 280,959 acres

Okanogan - $2,713,424 for 1,564,715 acres

Walla Walla - $30,489 for 11,317 acres

Yakima - $883,301 for 534,853 acres

"This year's distribution of $514.7 million to more than 1,900 counties will help small towns pay for critical needs like emergency response, public safety, public schools, housing, social services, and infrastructure," said Secretary Bernhardt.

Background:

DOI collects more than $13.2 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands, such as oil and gas leasing, livestock grazing, and timber harvesting. A portion of these revenues are shared with States and counties. The balance is deposited in the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of Federal activities, including PILT funding.

A full list of funding by State and county is available at www.doi.gov/pilt.

Issues:Public Lands