Distribution of Funds to Oregon Counties

GAO was requested to determine whether funds received by the United States as fees for grazing livestock on public lands, which were being held in a suspense account in the U.S. Treasury, may be distributed to the counties in which these public lands are situated in accordance with the formulae set forth in prescribed legislation. The suspense account was created in 1976 because a conflict apparently existed between a 1976 act and previous legislation. Because the 1976 act explicitly provides that, in the event of a conflict between it and prior legislation, the earlier acts will prevail, GAO held that the funds in the suspense account could be distributed in accordance with the formulae set forth in the earlier legislation.