The USDA has awarded New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) $32 million as part of its new Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) program, which replaces a previous USDA forestry incentive and market-building program that was awarded to NEFF in fall 2022. NEFF’s AMP project will run through March 2028 and seeks to incentivize improved forest management on approximately 50,000 acres across New England and grow markets for regional wood.
“New England Forestry Foundation is encouraged by the strong and sustained interest landowners across the region have shown in implementing good forestry practices,” said Ryan Owens, NEFF Executive Director. “This award allows us to implement an innovative forestry incentive project, enabling landowners to improve the long-term health and productivity of New England’s forests.”
The award will enable NEFF to fund incentives for New England forestland owners who choose to implement qualifying forestry practices designed to support long-term forest health, ecological integrity, and timber productivity. It will also support NEFF’s work with forestland owners, loggers, foresters, forest-products businesses, and wood consumers to advance the productivity of working forests, and expand local markets for wood products.
“It is great for our sector to have additional resources available for investing in timber stand improvements, which are critical to future wood supply and value, but difficult for landowners to make when wood markets are challenging,” said Kyle Burdick, vice-president of the Baskahegan Company in Washington County, Maine. “With a program like AMP, we can get more quality wood growing on more acres, faster.”
Forest Management Incentives
NEFF’s AMP project will provide forest management incentives to forest landowners across New England, and to foresters and logging contractors. Under AMP, a full 65 percent of funds received by NEFF from the USDA will be passed directly on to these producers as incentives.
NEFF’s qualifying forest practices will seek to incentivize the implementation of improved forest management on approximately 50,000 acres, with the precise number of incentivized acres depending on forest type, forest stand condition, and forestry practices applied.
Twenty-three commercial, conservation, and public forest landowners have already enrolled in the project in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Smaller-acreage landowners are also encouraged to apply, and some are already in the queue across the region, with several in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Visit newenglandforestry.org/amp for details.
“As a company that is involved in both sustainable forest management and milling wood products, we always have our eye on future wood supply,” said Catherine Robbins-Halsted, vice president of the Robbins Lumber Company in Searsmont, Maine. “AMP funds will help support the good forestry that ensures a steady supply of high-quality wood to mills like ours.”
NEFF’s AMP project will also offer support to foresters and logging contractors. Through NEFF’s partnership with the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast (PLC), logging contractors will have the opportunity to participate in Master Logger Certification programs and workshops which will offer training on a range of forest management and market topics.
“The Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast is excited by the opportunities that AMP funds will provide to the region’s logging companies,” said Dana Doran, PLC Executive Director. “By expanding the number of Master Logger Certified companies and making more available to harvest uneconomic stands responsibly, this grant is critical to the forest economy and to employment in rural communities that depend on it.”
Market Expansion
AMP will support a market development program focused on linking regional/local producers and consumers of wood — forging strong connections between the landowners, loggers, and mills who produce our wood products and the project developers, architects, and builders that drive demand for wood in the building sector. Through outreach, education, and marketing, this work aims to advance markets for producers by increasing the volume and variety of wood products used in buildings, particularly housing, including increasing the prevalence of mass timber as a structural building material.
“As a mass timber building developer, Spiritos Properties is honored to support the New England Forestry Foundation and USDA in promoting the use of New England wood in mass timber, particularly to create new housing for New England communities,” said Jeff Spiritos, Spiritos Properties Principal. “The USDA’s AMP program is what’s needed to realize this potential — and it will also drive local and rural economic development.”
“WoodWorks is proud to partner with the New England Forestry Foundation through the AMP program to help accelerate the adoption of mass timber products and projects,” said Jennifer S. Cover, PE, President and CEO of WoodWorks. “This initiative aligns closely with our mission to promote efficient, sustainable, and forward-thinking wood building solutions, including both mass timber and light-frame wood. We look forward to broadening awareness of what’s possible with modern wood systems and driving more projects from concept to construction.”