Strengthening America’s Forests: Legislative Efforts and Challenges

Owners of family forest land can dedicate three decades to nurturing a timber stand, only for a hurricane to destroy it in mere hours. In September 2024, Hurricane Helene, classified as category four, made landfall, causing $1.28 billion in timber damage in Georgia. The storm impacted nearly 9 million acres of forest land, with 88% being privately owned. For affected families, these losses mean generations of investment gone, and regenerating forests is costly.

America’s working forests are vital. They provide rural employment, wildlife habitats, clean water, recreation, and renewable wood products. Maintaining their productivity necessitates disaster recovery tools and a decent return on invested timber. The House Committee on Agriculture has made considerable headway in tackling these challenges. Now, Congress must build on this progress to ensure the future success of America’s working forests.

This year, the House of Representatives passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, commonly referred to as the farm bill. With a solid forestry title, it aims to tackle various issues faced by national and non-federal forests. The House-passed farm bill proposes reforms to enhance management, partnerships, the forest products industry, and forest health. With the Senate Agriculture Committee advancing its version, Congress needs to unite to finalize the bill by year-end.

The House Committee on Agriculture’s efforts also resulted in a bipartisan law to address a pressing problem: funding recovery before aid distribution. The Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act became law this year. It enables eligible nonindustrial private forest landowners to receive advance payments for qualifying emergency restoration measures, aiding recovery without imposing all costs upfront. Nevertheless, restoring a working forest demands more than just emergency assistance. It requires strong timber markets and financial means to replant.

Timber markets currently face pressures from mill closures, changing demands, and reduced outlets for lower-value wood products. These issues extend beyond mill gates. Landowners lose markets, loggers lose jobs, and truckers lose loads. Such persistent losses damage rural communities, causing more people to move to suburban and urban areas.

Without a fruitful return from timber, landowners must decide if they can continue forest land management. Strong markets are integral for forest ownership and management. Forest policy should promote markets that make management and recovery economically viable. The bipartisan Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act will aid in this by updating the Renewable Fuel Standard’s definition of renewable biomass. Including more low-value woody material from forest management and hazardous-fuels reduction can offset management costs and transform disposal challenges into opportunities for American forest products and renewable energy.

Landowners also require modern tools for replanting after disasters. Currently, timberland owners can deduct up to $10,000 annually in reforestation expenses per qualified timber property, with extra costs amortized over seven years. This limit, set in 2004, does not reflect today’s market. Costs for site preparation, seedlings, and planting have risen, and storms like Hurricane Helene leave landowners with huge expenses.

The bipartisan Save America’s Family Forests Act aims to increase the annual reforestation deduction from $10,000 to $30,000. It also provides an immediate deduction of up to $500,000 for qualifying reforestation expenses following federally declared disasters. Updating this tax provision will allow landowners to reinvest faster, acknowledging that forest establishment costs arise long before any income from harvest.

The House Committee on Agriculture has laid the groundwork for a resilient timber economy and better stewardship of natural resources. Completing this mission necessitates collaboration across Congress, including committees overseeing energy policy and tax legislation. For landowners, disaster recovery, timber markets, and reforestation are interconnected challenges. Congress must address them collectively.

Reauthorizing a new farm bill while advancing the bipartisan Save America’s Family Forests Act and Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act is essential. A year-end legislative package is an opportunity to drive progress, empowering landowners to remain productive instead of watching a vital industry struggle due to limited governmental support. The task remains unfinished. Future healthy and resilient forests depend on landowners’ ability to recover from disasters, secure timber markets, and afford replanting. This strategy keeps America’s working forests vibrant.

Authored by: Glenn “GT” Thompson, Chair, House Committee on Agriculture; Scott Jones, CEO, Forest Landowners Association.