The amendment, added to an emergency spending bill in the Senate, would fully fund the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program for the first time since 1994.

Last year, the PILT program provided $232 million to counties, about $100 million below the level authorized by Congress. Utah counties received more than $20 million in PILT payments last year.

The amendment was supported by Utah's senators and a bipartisan group of Western senators.

However, it was attached to a spending bill that includes a target for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, a measure President Bush has guaranteed he would veto, making the future of the entire bill uncertain.

"For decades, Utah counties have faced woefully inadequate compensation for public lands within their borders. We changed that today with passage of this amendment," Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said in a statement. "Finally, we can correct the imbalance we've faced for so many years and forge a way to send more funding to counties that need and deserve it most."

The PILT payments compensate counties for property taxes that can't be collected on the federal land in their boundaries; the counties still have to provide services such as firefighting and search-and-rescue in those areas.

The amendment also provided funding for the Secure Rural Schools program, which was designed to help fund education in traditional timber-producing areas that have suffered as a result of declining harvests.

The Senate amendment also changes the way the money in the timber program is allocated, meaning more funds could flow to states like Utah, said Bob Weidner, a lobbyist representing rural counties.

"It's a tremendous vote. Utah fares very well with this," said Weidner, who is hopeful the PILT money will stay in a bill the president will sign.

"I think the hope is that after the president vetoes the bill, the Democrats and the Congress will insist on keeping the domestic stuff in the bill in exchange for removing the war language the administration doesn't like," Weidner said.