STATES TO RECEIVE OVER $167 MILLION IN INTERIM NATIONAL FOREST PAYMENTS
                                                                     Release No. 0371.97

                                                    Alan Polk   (202) 205-1134
                                                            Jim Peterson    (202) 720-4623
                                                                    jim.petterson@usda.gov

STATES TO RECEIVE OVER $167 MILLION IN INTERIM NATIONAL FOREST PAYMENTS

      WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 1997--Forty-one states and Puerto Rico will share
interim payments totaling over $167 million as their portion of national
forest receipts collected by the Forest Service in Fiscal Year 1997, Dan
Glickman, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, announced today.
      
      "We estimate these states will eventually receive over $223 million as
their total payments from national forest receipts for the year," Glickman
said.  

      The interim payment represents 75 percent of the estimated total amount
each state will receive as its share of funds collected during the year from
the sale and use of a variety of national forest products and services.  USDA
pays any additional funds it owes the states in December, after determining
the actual receipts for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

      By law, the Forest Service pays 25 percent of the revenues it collects
from timber sales, grazing, recreation, minerals, and land uses to states in
which national forest lands are located.  The funds are used for schools and
roads. 

      The interim payments do not reflect revenues collected from the national
grasslands.  National grassland receipts are calculated on a calendar year
basis, beginning Jan. 1, and these funds are shared with the counties in the
spring.

      The largest interim payments will go to Oregon, $68 million;  
California, $24 million; and Washington, $21 million.

      Interim payments and the estimated 1997 amounts for each state are
listed in the following table.

                                            

         INTERIM AND ESTIMATED TOTAL STATE PAYMENTS FOR NATIONAL FOREST RECEIPTS
                                   (FISCAL YEAR 1997)

                              INTERIM PAYMENT      ESTIMATED TOTAL PAYMENT
                              
ALABAMA                            619,937.22                   826,582.96
ALASKA                             838,552.32                 1,118,069.76
ARIZONA                          1,662,853.30                 2,217,137.73
ARKANSAS                         3,839,580.84                 5,119,441.12
CALIFORNIA*/                    24,576,271.00                32,768,361.33
COLORADO                         3,204,753.27                 4,273,004.36
FLORIDA                            626,631.19                   835,508.25
GEORGIA                            473,393.60                   631,191.46
IDAHO                            8,896,101.39                11,861,468.52
ILLINOIS                            12,563.63                    16,751.50
INDIANA                             23,775.39                    31,700.52
KENTUCKY                           297,976.34                   397,301.78
LOUISIANA                        1,781,833.29                 2,375,777.72
MAINE                               23,265.02                    31,020.02
MICHIGAN                         1,988,649.11                 2,651,532.14
MINNESOTA                        2,236,702.59                 2,982,270.12
MISSISSIPPI                      3,089,094.08                 4,118,792.11
MISSOURI                           929,245.54                 1,238,994.05
MONTANA                          6,161,513.63                 8,215,351.51
NEBRASKA                            23,144.81                    30,859.75
NEVADA                             287,997.18                   383,996.24
NEW HAMPSHIRE                      341,364.99                   455,153.32
NEW MEXICO                         686,352.98                   915,137.30
NEW YORK                               754.29                     1,005.72
NORTH CAROLINA                     429,927.28                   573,236.37
NORTH DAKOTA                            46.76                        62.34
OHIO                                12,016.49                    16,021.98
OKLAHOMA                           524,937.41                   699,916.55
OREGON*/                        68,491,643.33                91,322,191.10
PENNSYLVANIA                     4,258,167.35                 5,677,556.47
SOUTH CAROLINA                     891,629.57                 1,188,839.43
SOUTH DAKOTA                     2,499,522.10                 3,332,696.13
TENNESSEE                          298,991.69                   398,655.58
TEXAS                            1,081,409.78                 1,441,879.70
UTAH                             1,038,114.85                 1,384,153.13
VERMONT                            144,143.19                   192,190.92
VIRGINIA                           526,061.75                   701,415.67
WASHINGTON*/                    21,166,823.79                28,222,431.72
WEST VIRGINIA                    1,286,708.00                 1,715,610.67
WISCONSIN                        1,376,921.28                 1,835,895.04
WYOMING                          1,297,638.24                 1,730,184.32
PUERTO RICO                         15,778.12                    21,037.49
GRAND TOTAL                    167,962,787.98               223,950,383.90
                       


*/Interim payments to California, Oregon and Washington were computed under a
provision of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.  Section 13982 of
that Act provides for payments to States for fiscal year 1997 of 76% of the
five-year average payments for fiscal years 1986-90 for those national forests
affected by decisions on the northern spotted owl.  Interim payments to these
states would be lower if based solely on actual receipts.



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