Three Indiana Business Receive US Forest Service Grant
The U.S. Forest Service today announced $105.5 million in wood innovation grants for 177 projects across the nation that support active management of national forests and grasslands, promote wood and energy infrastructure by increasing manufacturing capacity and operational efficiencies and support rural economic prosperity and jobs.
The grants include $31 million for 113 wood innovation projects, $17 million for 23 community wood projects, and $57 million for 41 wood products infrastructure assistance projects.
The selected projects across 44 states and the District of Columbia will create and retain jobs, reduce wildfire risks for communities adjacent to federal or tribal lands, improve forest health and expand economic opportunities for forest products businesses.
“The greatest threat to forest landowners and those who use forests is the lack of critical markets in today’s timber and wood products industries,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “There are significant gaps where low-value wood, small diameter trees and restoration byproducts lack viable buyers. To close these gaps, we are investing in companies and organizations that are developing technologies, products, business models and training to expand and strengthen markets directly connected to forest restoration. Over time, this will help create new uses for underused materials, strengthen rural economies, improve forest health, and make forest management more financially sustainable.”
National forests and the wood products industry are intricately linked in ways that benefit landscapes, communities, and the broader national economy, especially for rural economies that rely on healthy forests. Active forest management—including environmentally responsible timber harvests—helps reduce wildfire risk, improves forest health and maintains diverse, resilient ecosystems.
By extension, the wood products industry creates a market for the byproducts of active forest management, turning small-diameter timber, dry, overgrown vegetation that can fuel wildfires and other industrial byproducts into useful projects that support jobs and rural communities.
The wood innovations investments support President Trump’s Executive Order on Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins’ direction to have the Forest Service to ramp up active forest management to improve forest health, reduce wildfire risk, and support rural prosperity. Byproducts of these activities – such as small diameter timber and woody biomass – have historically had little market value. Forest Service grant programs help create new opportunities to use this material in a wide range of wood products.
A complete list of grant recipients and brief project descriptions are available online.
About the Forest Service: The Forest Service has brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation for more than 100 years. Grounded in world-class science and technology — and rooted in communities — the Forest Service connects people to nature and recreation opportunities. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, supports the nation’s forest industry and energy needs, and operates the largest and most respected wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. By helping state and private landowners and working with tribes and other partners, the Forest Service also helps steward an additional 900 million forested acres within the U.S.