USA –   More than 400 associations, businesses, and landowners tied to the U.S. forest products sector have signed a joint letter to President Donald J. Trump calling for urgent action to address a deepening crisis that threatens the nation’s timber supply, rural economies, and energy security.

The initiative, led by the Forest Landowners Association, the American Biomass Energy Association, and the American Loggers Council, highlights the need to stabilize the sector and maintain access to markets amid mill closures, natural disasters, and unfair foreign trade practices.

The appeal comes after Trump’s March 1st Executive Order directing federal agencies to increase domestic timber and wood product output. The coalition warns that without immediate measures, the U.S. risks losing its forestland base, key markets, and millions of jobs that depend on a strong forestry value chain.

The joint letter outlines four urgent priorities:

• Support the Disaster Reforestation Act, ensuring landowners can replant after catastrophic natural disasters.
• Expand the definition of woody biomass in the Renewable Fuel Standard, opening new markets for low-value wood while boosting renewable energy.
• Promote biomass power generation, creating rural jobs and reducing wildfire risks.
• Back the Loggers Economic Assistance Act, providing direct relief for logging contractors and stabilizing the workforce.

“America’s private forests are a strategic national asset,” said Scott Jones, CEO of the Forest Landowners Association. “By advancing these measures, the Trump Administration can provide certainty for landowners, loggers, and mills, while strengthening U.S. manufacturing, renewable energy, and rural livelihoods.”

Scott Dane, executive director of the American Loggers Council, added that the Administration inherited “a declining timber and forest products industry” but has taken aggressive steps to reverse that trend. Carrie Annand, executive director of the American Biomass Energy Association, emphasized the importance of bioenergy, noting that biomass “converts flammable forest waste into 24/7 renewable power” while supporting jobs and wildfire prevention.

The coalition stressed that the nation’s 3.9 million forestry-supported jobs, as well as U.S. housing supply, infrastructure, consumer products, energy independence, and national security, are all tied to the strength of its working forests.