Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland, on Friday called for Congress to open an investigation into $43,000 in Washington, D.C. lobbying trips that Douglas County commissioners paid with federal money meant to fund public safety and educational programs.

Blumenauer cited a story published hours earlier by The Oregonian/OregonLive, which reported that the rural timber county has proposed charging the newsroom nearly $2,000 to provide receipts for the travel expenses. The county has been unwilling or unable to account for the spending despite numerous requests by the newsroom.

“These allegations are incredibly alarming as they seem to show a pattern of reckless spending by Douglas County,” Blumenauer said in a statement. “This is money that is supposed to be spent on schools for rural communities, not for lobbying and certainly not for personal expenses. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

In the last four years, Douglas County commissioners, all Republicans, have repeatedly traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other top federal officials to increase timber harvests. More than half of Douglas County is federal forest, where logging dropped sharply in the 1990s.

Commissioners spent $43,000 on their travel, but have provided receipts itemizing just $579. They have not released expense reports that would show whether they traveled frugally or spent lavishly on their hotel, airfare and meals.

County officials want to charge the newsroom more than $1,900 and spend nearly a full week’s worth of clerical time to find 170 pages they say itemize the other $42,500.

The newsroom has appealed the costs to Douglas County district attorney Richard Wesenberg.

The county’s spending is of interest as members of Congress seek to make permanent the money’s source -- a federal safety net program intended to help counties transition away from their reliance on federal timber harvests. Douglas County commissioners have used the program to award themselves $30,000 a year to pay for lobbying trips. It’s unclear exactly how much has been spent.

The funds are part of the Secure Rural Schools program, which gives money to jurisdictions like Douglas County that suffered financially after endangered species listings curtailed federal logging. The county has struggled to adjust, however, closing its libraries in 2017. The national program has given $3 billion to Oregon counties since Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, co-authored legislation creating it in 2000.

Blumenauer said the county’s actions come at a crucial time for the program, which Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley are seeking to make permanent.

“This reckless behavior makes our effort to reauthorize much harder,” Blumenauer said.

No other members of Oregon’s congressional delegation joined Blumenauer in his call for the House Natural Resources Committee to investigate.

— Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis

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