A one-year extension of federal timber payments to cash-strapped counties represents a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

Congress voted forward the temporary extension on June 29 after much lobbying from rural representatives who are struggling to halt plummeting budgets.

Nearly $346 million is now expected to be distributed across the nation. A huge chunk, nearly $102 million, will be coming to 33 Oregon counties that contain federal land. The timber payments law is part of a surface transportation bill.

Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde said it's encouraging that members of Congress understand the critical condition of many rural counties - some heading toward financial insolvency. Hyde has been an advocate for the need to continue timber payments and fix the fiscal problems caused by fully eliminating the disbursements.

"Any news is good news, however, this doesn't get us there by any means," Hyde said. "For me, the main thing is, albeit small, it does let us live another day."

Many Oregon counties have become increasingly dependent on federal payments over the years as timber harvests began to decline because of increasingly stringent federal forestland protections. However, the last of those payments came through in January.

Lawmakers say they are looking at long-term solutions, but at this point there has been little movement on that front.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden wrote the original county payments law in 2000, dubbed the "Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act." He, along with other Oregon politicians, have made these payments a major issue. Wyden said it is the federal government's "obligation" to rural America.

U.S. Rep. Greg Walden has been urging others in the Republican-controlled House to confront the extreme budget challenges facing rural regions for some time. In a statement following the secured extension, Walden said there needs to be much more financial certainty for counties to function correctly.

Jobs need to be brought back into the forests in order to create revenue and keep schools and law enforcement afloat, Walden said.

"The federal government, which owns a lion's share of land in our rural forested communities, must be a better neighbor," he wrote. "The status quo of asking the federal government for a check year after year is not sustainable. Our counties are heading over a fiscal cliff. They need certainty."

If President Obama signs off on the bill as expected, Hyde said it will start to become clearer how the extra dollars will affect Columbia County budget.