USFS Pours Huge Dollars Into Montana Rural School Funding

Montana communities are getting a much-needed boost with millions in federal funding set to improve education and public services. This is a win for rural life.

SRS FISCAL 2025 PAYMENTS

The office of Congressman Ryan Zinke made the announcement Thursday (April 16), celebrating Montana's share of the $248 million that the U.S. Forest Service will distribute in Secure Rural Schools (SRS) payments for Fiscal Year 2025, including more than $10 million for Montana’s First Congressional District. The payments are earmarked for local services in communities surrounded by federally managed lands.

ACCORDING TO THE CONGRESSMAN

In the press release, Congressman Zinke was quoted as saying, “Secure Rural Schools is a commitment to communities like ours that live with the reality of federal land ownership every day. When Washington controls the land, it has a responsibility to help keep our roads maintained, our schools open, and our first responders supported."

The announcement follows passage of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025, which Congressman Zinke sponsored to ensure continued payments through Fiscal Year 2026 and restore lapsed funding. He has consistently pushed for long-term certainty for timber-dependent and forested communities, arguing that counties with large amounts of federal land should not be left at a disadvantage.

WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING

• Beaverhead County — $923,911.02
• Deer Lodge County — $178,409.30
• Flathead County — $973,971.32
• Gallatin County — $188,457.00
• Glacier County — $34,690.56
• Granite County — $594,901.75
• Lake County — $57,833.79
• Lincoln County — $3,609,891.82
• Madison County — $314,327.84
• Mineral County — $857,047.13
• Missoula County — $523,289.83
• Pondera County — $72,007.32
• Powell County — $630,469.84
• Ravalli County — $611,524.64
• Sanders County — $1,436,653.22
• Silver Bow County — $124,603.93

Total (MT-01): $10,131,989.25

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The Secure Rural Schools program was originally enacted in 2000 to offset declining revenues from timber harvests and other federal land uses. These funds are primarily directed toward schools, infrastructure, and public safety services in counties with significant federal land holdings.

After lapsing in 2023, the program was reauthorized through bipartisan legislation signed into law in December, 2025.