Commentary: It's time for a permanent solution for counties like ours

In Lewis County, we are proud of our forests. They’re not just part of our landscape — they’re part of our heritage, our economy and our way of life. But when more than a third of your county is locked up in federally managed land — land that produces no property tax revenue — pride alone doesn’t keep the lights on in our schools, plow the roads in winter or fund our sheriff’s deputies.

That’s the reality we face in Lewis County, where over 400,000 acres — nearly 35% of our total land base — is controlled by the federal government. We aren’t allowed to responsibly harvest timber like we once did, and we can’t tax the land. So instead, we’re left dependent on an unstable federal program known as the Secure Rural Schools Act — a stopgap that Congress has kicked down the road for over two decades.

I had the honor of representing Washington state on the Gifford Pinchot Secure Rural Schools Resource Advisory Committee. I’ve seen up close how much our rural counties rely on these federal dollars to fill critical funding gaps in roads, schools, and emergency services. But I’ve also seen how damaging it is to be left wondering year after year whether Congress will reauthorize the program — and for how long.

Now, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez has the opportunity to lead. She represents a district filled with counties like ours — places that have given and given and are now just asking for fairness and certainty in return.

What we don’t need is another short-term fix. Reauthorizing Secure Rural Schools for another year or two is putting a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound. It’s not enough.

We need a permanent, acreage-based funding solution that reflects the reality on the ground — that our local governments are expected to provide full services on land that belongs to the federal government and produces zero revenue. A solution that treats rural counties not like beggars at the federal table, but as partners in stewarding our public lands.

Congress has done this before. Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) is based on acreage. That’s the model we should expand. And if responsible, sustainable forest management is ever allowed to resume on these lands — as it should — then counties should share in that revenue too.

Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez says she wants to fight for working-class rural communities. Here’s her chance. Let’s stop asking rural counties to do more with less. Let’s stop letting politicians dictate how we manage lands they’ve never set foot on. And let’s stop pretending short-term reauthorizations are anything but political theater.

The time for temporary is over. We need permanent. And we need it now.

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Chehalis City Councilor Kevin Carns is a former state government representative and chair of the Gifford Pinchot Secure Rural Schools Resource Advisory Committee.