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Loggers and mill operators warn that market and infrastructure gaps hinder fuels removal and forest restoration
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Summary
Industry witnesses told the House Subcommittee that mill closures, import competition and a weak market for low‑value wood threaten the logging and processing capacity needed to support large‑scale fuels reduction.
Scott Dane, executive director of the American Loggers Council (first reference: Scott Dane, executive director, American Loggers Council), told the subcommittee that timber harvest on national forests has fallen from historic highs to roughly a quarter of national forest growth and that lack of markets for low‑value, small‑diameter material constrains fuels‑reduction work.
"No markets. No management," Dane said, arguing that without outlets for hazardous fuels and low‑value wood, loggers and mills cannot economically support the scale of treatments many experts say are needed. He described a biomass transportation incentive pilot that removed about 120,000 green tons of hazardous fuels and said that biomass power and other markets are critical for using material that otherwise has little commercial value.
Dane and other panelists said recent mill closures — numbers cited in testimony included more than 150 mills closed over the last 20–25 years in California alone — and current import patterns have left U.S. sawmills operating below capacity. Dane and members urged support for market development, including tax and regulatory incentives for biomass and nascent markets such as biochar and forest‑based sustainable aviation fuels.
Why it matters: Panelists said fuels‑reduction treatments generate large volumes of material with low or no market value; without reliable markets and transport infrastructure the material cannot be moved at scale. Representative Salud Carbajal and others highlighted trade and tariff issues that affect hardwood and softwood markets. Witnesses recommended targeted trade and industrial policy, long‑term timber contracts and incentives to keep and expand domestic processing capacity.
Ending: Lawmakers asked for more detail on market remedies and indicated intent to address supply‑chain and market development issues in upcoming legislation and oversight.
