	Introduction

The Oregon & California Railroad (O&C) lands consist of 2.6 million acres of timberland in western Oregon (see Figure 1 ). The majority of these lands (2.5 million acres) were originally granted to the Oregon & California Railroad Company in 1866 for constructing approximately 300 miles of the Oregon portion of a railroad from Portland, OR, to Sacramento, CA. In 1908, the United States sued the railroad company, and in 1915 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the railroad violated the terms of the grant. The disposition of these lands was eventually resolved when the Chamberlain-Ferris Act of 1916 revested all unsold tracts of land back to the federal government. Management concerns—such as how to compensate the counties for the loss of property tax revenue—persisted, and were addressed with the Oregon & California Railroad Lands Act of 1937 (O&C Act). This act directed that the Department of the Interior (DOI) would administer the lands "for permanent forest production" with the purpose of providing timber, protecting watersheds, providing recreational opportunities, and contributing to the economic stability of the local communities. The O&C Act also established a revenue sharing system for the counties. The Northwest Forest Plan

The O&C lands are included in the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP). The NWFP covers 24 million acres of public land, including 19 national forests managed by the Forest Service and 7 BLM districts in California, Oregon, and Washington. The O&C lands make up 11% of the NWFP management area by acreage, and 37% of Oregon's NWFP management area. Federal Payments to the O&C Counties

The counties containing the O&C lands had a financial stake in the O&C lands because they received tax payments from the railroad until 1911, when the railroad stopped paying in anticipation of the land being returned to federal ownership. Payments for FY2014 (to be made in 2015) will return to 50% of receipts for the O&C counties, unless Congress acts to extend, modify, or replace SRS. These payments would likely be significantly lower than previous years' SRS payments. With the last of the SRS payments made in early 2014, the FY2014 payments (to be made in early 2015) are likely to be significantly lower than the FY2013 payments unless Congress changes current law to prevent a reversion to 50% of O&C receipts. The 114 th Congress may continue to debate these issues; for example, one bill was introduced on January 8, 2015. Legislative Activity in the 113th Congress

The 113 th Congress considered legislation to address the management of the O&C lands and federal payments programs to the O&C counties. 1526 —the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act—would have transferred management authority of much of the O&C lands to a panel appointed by the governor of Oregon and established a trust with fiduciary responsibility to the counties, among other provisions related to the management and applicability of federal environmental laws. Senate Action: S. 1784

The Oregon and California Land Grant Act of 2013 ( S. 1784 ), reported out of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on December 11, 2014, would have amended the O&C Act of 1937 and would have allocated portions of the O&C lands as "forestry emphasis areas" and other portions as "conservation emphasis areas," each with different management prescriptions. H.R.
The Oregon and California Railroad (O&C) lands consist of 2.6 million acres of timberland in western Oregon. The majority of these lands (2.5 million acres) were originally granted to the Oregon & California Railroad Company in 1866 for constructing approximately 300 miles of the Oregon portion of a railroad from Portland, OR, to Sacramento, CA. However, in 1915 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the railroad company violated the terms of the grant. The disposition of these lands was eventually resolved with the O&C Act of 1937, which revested the lands back into federal ownership to be managed by the Department of the Interior "for permanent forest production" with the purpose of providing a supply of timber, protecting watersheds, providing recreational opportunities, and contributing to the economic stability of the local communities. The O&C Act of 1937 established a revenue-sharing system with the 18 counties in Oregon that contain O&C lands. Currently at issue for Congress are payments to the counties that contain O&C land, and the applicability of various land management and environmental laws.
The O&C lands are managed under the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP). The NWFP is a series of administrative policies and forest management directives adopted in the 1990s. The NWFP covers 24 million acres of public land, including 19 national forests managed by the Forest Service and 7 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) districts in California, Oregon, and Washington. The O&C lands make up 11% of the NWFP management area by acreage, and 37% of Oregon's NWFP management area by acreage.
The 1937 O&C Act established a revenue sharing system to compensate for the loss of property tax revenue when the O&C lands were revested back to the federal government. When timber sales and revenues began to decline in the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s, Congress established alternative compensation systems for the county payments: first, the safety net payments specifically for the Pacific Northwest, and then, the broader Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (SRS; P.L. 106-393, as amended). After several reauthorizations and extensions—including the most recent one-year reauthorization for FY2013 (P.L. 113-40)—SRS expired after the FY2013 payment was issued in early 2014. Therefore, the O&C counties will not receive an SRS payment for FY2014 (to be made in 2015), but the payments will return to 50% of receipts, unless Congress acts to extend, modify, or replace SRS. These payments would likely be significantly lower than previous years' SRS payments.
The 113th Congress considered legislation to address the management of the O&C lands and federal payment programs to the O&C counties. A House-passed bill (H.R. 1526, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act) would have transferred management authority of much of the O&C lands to a governor-appointed panel and established a trust with fiduciary responsibility to the counties, among other provisions related to the management and applicability of federal environmental laws. A Senate bill reported out of committee, S. 1784, would have retained management authority within the BLM, but would have designated portions of the O&C lands as forestry emphasis areas, and other portions as conservation emphasis areas, each with different management prescriptions. Neither proposal was enacted.
Management of the O&C lands and federal payments to the O&C counties may continue to be issues for the 114th Congress. For example, The Oregon and California Land Grant Act of 2015, S. 132, was introduced on January 8, 2015, and is very similar to S. 1784 from the 113th Congress.