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PENDLETON — The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is receiving $250,000 in federal funding to expand broadband service.

Oregon’s U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Democrats, announced the infusion of money in a press release Monday, Feb. 26. The project is to create a strategic plan to expand broadband service on unserved areas of the reservation.

“Equitable access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet ensures individuals, families and businesses can be connected wherever they are,” Merkley said. “This funding will allow CTUIR to make improvements to the economy, education and quality of life for folks across hundreds of miles in rural Oregon.”

“Just as water is essential for the livelihoods and economies of communities in rural areas, access to reliable broadband internet is just as important in this modern technological age,” Wyden said. “This funding was exactly what I fought for when we corrected the Department of Commerce’s national broadband map just under a year ago and brought historic investments in Oregon’s underserved rural areas.”

This funding is part of an announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture of 216 new projects nationwide, totaling $772.6 million, according to the press release, and will benefit more than 1 million people living in remote areas of the country by providing reliable high-speed internet access, safe water and a range of support for rural families, agricultural producers and small businesses as part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda.