Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden today announced counties throughout Oregon will receive a combined total of $31,027,890 in Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2025. Because local governments cannot tax federal lands, annual PILT funding helps to defray the costs associated with
Washington, D.C. – Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (CA-02) and Steve Cohen (TN-09), along with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), re-introduced legislation that would ban hazardous cyanide bombs from public lands. Their bill, Canyon’s Law, would protect families, pets, and wildlife from dangerous M-44 ejectors – spring-loaded devices made up of sodium
Lawmakers also introduce bipartisan resolution marking National Pollinator Week Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19) today teamed up to introduce the Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act. The bicameral bill would help prevent the extinction of the Western Monarch butterfly and
Washington D.C.— U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., along with U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both R-Idaho, celebrated today’s unanimous Senate passage of their legislation to reauthorize the U.S. Forest Service’s Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Program (SRS) through Fiscal Year 2026. “This is a
Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement in response to the Trump Administration withdrawing from the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA): “The Columbia River is the lifeblood of our region, and President Trump’s outrageous approach to the basin will leave our communities worse off. We have
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, released the below statement following reports that the Republican “One Big, Beautiful Bill” includes provisions that would allow the federal government to sell off millions of acres of federal
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees funding for the U.S. Interior Department and U.S. Forest Service, released the following statement after President Trump issued an executive order directing the agencies to reorganize and consolidate wildland firefighting efforts: “Instead of focusing on
Over 300 Rural Hospitals at Disproportionate Risk of Closure, Conversion, or Service Reductions Lawmakers Also Provided Data to President Trump, Leader Thune, and Speaker Johnson in Letter Letter and Data | Sheps Response Washington (June 12, 2025) – Following House Republicans’ passage of a bill that would impose the largest
Washington, D.C. – Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) issued the following statement after a hearing with U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the agency: “Forest Service Chief Schultz’s testimony only underscored the immense, serious challenges facing communities
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