Timber Talk 3/10/2026
- Jenna Reese
- Mar 9
- 10 min read
OFA Update
Annual Meeting Begins Tomorrow
Annual Meeting begins on Wednesday, March 11th, with our President’s Reception at Middle West Distillery. Come join us and experience the perfect collaboration between Ohio's Forest and Grain production industries. This is sure to be a fun evening of networking with your peers. The meeting will continue on Thursday, March 12th, with a full day of industry sessions and our annual awards luncheon. We hope to see you there!
Buses to Middle West Distillery will leave the Hyatt every 15 minutes starting at 4:30pm.
Register or view the schedule for Annual Meeting HERE
OFA Foundation Workforce Development
E.B. Miller Schloarship Applications Open
The Ohio Forestry Association Foundation is now accepting applications for their annual EB Miller Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is offered to Ohio high school graduates pursuing an education at an approved university, college, junior college, or technical university offering a forest resource curriculum.
The application deadline for students is April 15, 2026. Selection of grant recipients will be made by the Scholarship Committee of the Ohio Forestry Association Foundation and winners will be announced in June. Follow the link to forward the application to students pursuing an education in a forestry-related area of study.
Camp Canopy Registration
Registration is now live for the OFA Foundation's annual summer camp for high school students. This year, Camp Canopy will happen from June 7-12th at the beautiful FFA Camp Muskingum in Carrollton, Ohio. Students completing 8th-12th grade this year can register for this week long experience that focuses on everything from forest products and tree identification to wildlife management and geology. Each year staff and committee members comprised of forestry experts from ODNR and OFA, as well as previous campers who have now started careers in forestry come up with a fun curriculum, field trips, and fun activities to make this a week to remember for all campers who attend. Register campers before May 4th for the early bird price and inquire with OFA at info@ohioforest.org to get recommendations for any campers who need a sponsorship.
Save the Date for the 2026 Legislative Reception
This year's legislative reception has been set for May 12, 2026. Mark your calendar's and get excited about this huge opportunity for networking and industry advocacy with other OFA members, lawmakers, and legislative experts. The reception will take place in the beautiful museum gallery at the Ohio State House. We can't wait to see you there for an impactful night to remember.
Market Update
HardwoodReview Forecasting
Year-end lumber sales “aren’t setting anything on fire,” as one contact put it, but we are surprised at the number of hardwood companies concluding that 2025 was “not too bad,” especially in terms of lumber sales volumes. With KD-green margins compressed, however, and most manufacturing and overhead costs higher, few saw higher profits in 2025, and those that did—or came close to matching 2024—were generally secondary manufacturers or lumber producers that shifted focus to more specialized products and/or value-added services. Many are now expecting a market turnaround to begin in Q2, though opinions are mixed as to whether it will be driven by new demand or additional industry attrition.
The Sep spike in Red Oak exports to China may have been an early indicator that Chinese demand will rebound after Lunar New Year. However, exporters say Chinese buyers still aren’t willing to pay the KD prices necessary to cover green lumber costs, and the rapidly growing flow of hardwood lumber sawn in Vietnam from U.S. logs isn’t going to help. Most are aware of the explosive growth in Walnut log exports to Vietnam, but Red Oak, White Oak, Ash, Cherry and Maple logs also soared to Vietnam in 2025. Expect this to be an even more contentious issue next year.
Legislative Update
The following is brought to us by our national partner, the Forest Resources Association (FRA)
Farm Bill
On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee completed its markup of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. The Committee vote was 34-17, with 7 Democrats joining all Republicans on the committee to pass the legislation.
The Farm Bill is home to several programs that are critically important to the entire forest products value chain. This Farm Bill reauthorization cycle has been extraordinary in that the two main drivers of a Farm Bill rewrite—Title 1, which addresses row crop and dairy subsidies, and Title 4, which houses the nutrition programs—were cleaved off and passed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was signed by the President on July 4 last year. This development left a number of forestry and forest products sector-supported programs authorized by the Farm Bill in limbo. Among those programs left out of H.R. 1—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—are the Wood Innovation Grant and Community Wood Grant programs, as well as all of the biomass energy incentive programs in the Farm Bill’s Energy Title.
The House Agriculture Committee-approved bill would do the following:
Renews and updates both the Wood Innovation and Community Wood Grant programs. Both of these initiatives have pumped meaningful dollars into the rural economy to stand up innovative wood manufacturing facilities, upgrades at existing sawmills, and deployment of biomass combined heat and power projects, among other things.
Alters the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE), a workforce development grant program, to include the forestry and forest products manufacturing sectors. This approach effectively bolts the Jobs in the Woods Act language onto an existing, nearly identical worker pathway program.
Codifies the concept of biomass carbon neutrality and binds the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assign a greenhouse gas emissions factor of no more than zero to emissions from forest-based biomass energy. While the language does not cover the most critical agency—the EPA—FRA will be working with our allies to expand this language to cover all of the federal government footprint as the bill proceeds.
Reauthorizes and improves the Forest Inventory and Analysis program. FIA monitors the health of our country’s forest resource, and its credible data is the centerpiece of our sector’s sustainability claims.
Renews Energy title programs incentivizing biomass heat and power projects. Among those programs are the Rural Energy for America Program and the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, which is a direct payment program for producers of advanced biofuels, including wood pellet producers. This title also reauthorizes the Biomass Crop Assistance Program.
While the legislation received bipartisan support in committee, its future is uncertain as it moves forward in the legislative process. Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN-02) was critical of the measure leading up to and throughout the committee markup. Democrat Members of Congress have opposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that were made as part of H.R. 1 last year.
In the Senate, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) has signaled that he intends to mark up a Farm Bill reauthorization measure in the coming months. However, legislating in the 119th Congress will slow to a halt the closer we get to the November mid-term elections. Nevertheless, the FRA team will continue to work the process to secure our priorities in whatever Farm Bill product emerges later this year.
EUDR
FRA continues to participate in bi-weekly meetings of the EUDR Value Chain Coalition, a group of US forestry and forest products industry stakeholders seeking process simplification and a reduction of administrative burdens for non-EU operators and stakeholders. On Monday, March 9th, the USDA and other governmental agencies are scheduled to meet with EU officials to discuss desirable amendments to EUDR. The value chain coalition has prepared a joint statement to help share EUDR challenges and concerns with government officials and to help advance discussions.
FRA has signed on in support, joining several other national forest products value chain peer associations as signatories. The document declares “while the group acknowledges the European Commission’s recent amendments and ongoing efforts to simplify implementation, the changes do not go far enough to address fundamental misalignments between EUDR requirements and the realities of low-risk forest product supply chains outside the EU”.
Furthermore, EUDR requirements “impose disproportionate, costly, and unbalanced administrative burdens on non-EU suppliers, forest managers and product producers, particularly those in low-risk countries such as the United States, without delivering additional environmental benefits”. The coalition is urging the Commission to allow broader scale geolocation reporting for low-risk countries since “plot level geolocation compliance obligations are costly, operationally impractical, and disconnected from deforestation risk”.
Trade
Also on Wednesday, the Court of International Trade issued an order that may provide some hope for the speedy recovery of tariff refunds. In the language of the order, Judge Richard Eaton made clear that all importers of record—not just those who have sued—should be entitled to refunds of International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs. Equally important, the order clarifies that all decisions regarding refunds of IEEPA tariffs will be made by a single judge, Judge Eaton. The order may be found here.
This order sets up the possibility of a simplified recovery process. Typically, once Customs and Border Protection (CBP) finalizes a duty calculation, importers must pursue additional administrative steps, which can include litigation, to obtain refunds. By ordering CBP to make adjustments before entries are final, the court’s ruling could help companies avoid a complicated recovery process.
Judge Eaton has scheduled a hearing for today at which time he has asked the government to put forward initial ideas for refunding all IEEPA tariffs without litigation. Today’s proceedings could produce more details on how the court plans to handle the more than 2,000 refund-related cases pending before the court.
The administration might appeal the order, preventing it from taking effect immediately. However, yesterday’s action is an encouraging indication of how the court views the obligation to provide refunds and of its intent to move forward expeditiously.
Transportation
Freight Market Recovery
Current predictions for the freight market indicate that transportation prices will increase significantly over the next 12 months, while transportation capacity will contract. The monthly report compiling sentiment among supply chain managers indicates that the long-awaited freight market comeback is in full swing.[1] Current markets indicate that demand has exceeded supply, with temporarily reduced capacity as a driving force behind market tightening. Transportation prices are expected to significantly increase over the next twelve months. Predictions indicate a shift towards a booming transportation market.
California to revoke 17,000 Commercial Drivers' Licenses on March 6th, 2026
The California Department of Motor Vehicles will revoke approximately 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses on March 6th due to a federal audit that found the state had improperly issued some CDLs under state law. Affected holders of CDLs include drivers whose license expires after their legal presence expires. All drivers whose CDLs are cancelled will lose their basic driver’s license privileges, but can visit a DMV to downgrade their CDL to a basic driver’s license or work with a local DMV to reinstate their license after the cancellation deadline. Current legal proceedings will dictate whether the DMV will be able to reissue non-domiciled CDLs in California.
FRA Policy Priorities Gain Cosponsors
During FRA’s recent Fly-In, members met with lawmakers across Capitol Hill to advocate for key industry priorities. Those conversations are already producing results.
Rep. John McGuire (R-VA-05) has signed on as a cosponsor of both the Safe Routes Act (H.R. 2166) and the Jobs in the Woods Act (H.R. 4575) following a productive meeting with FRA’s Virginia team.
The Safe Routes Act (H.R. 2166) has also gained Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) as a cosponsor, while on the Senate side, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) recently joined the Jobs in the Woods Act (S.1336) after meeting with FRA’s Wisconsin team during the Fly-In.
Click below for the full list of bill cosponsors.
Safety Update
Sedgwick Safety Services
OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) Online Submission
Now that 2025 is behind us, hopefully you have finalized your OSHA Injury and Illness Log for 2025 and printed, signed and posted the 300A Summary form in a conspicuous location. This was due on February 1st and the Summary form must remain posted until April 30th. Excellent work if you have this completed, however, some employers may still have one more step – submitting their injury and illness information online to OSHA.
If you are unsure whether or not you are required to complete this online submission, the best way to check this is by going to OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA) Coverage Application at https://www.osha.gov/itareportapp. Input the required information on company size, location and industry type, then hit the “Submit” button and it will tell you what reports, if any, will need to be submitted. You may be required to submit information from your OSHA 300A Summary Form and possibly, information from your OSHA 300 Log and OSHA 301 “Injury and Illness Incident Report”. If your establishment is required to submit online, you must go to OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application at https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/ita/. If you are a New User to the website, you will first need to create an ITA account.
Once that has been completed, the second step is “Sign in with Login.Gov“ account. You must use the same email address when setting up your ITA Account and your Login.Gov Account. Be sure to follow the steps under “Get help submitting your injury and illness date”. The page allows you to access:
OSHA’s Injury Reporting Page
ITA Frequently Asked Questions
OSHA’s Record-keeping Page
Help Desk Ticket
OSHA’s ITA Data Page
Once you have successfully set up an account, then you can submit the required information. This may just be the OSHA 300A Summary information or it may also include information from your OSHA 300 Log and OSHA Form 301 (remember, you can determine what data is required for submission from the ITA Coverage Application discussed above). The online submission is a fairly straight forward process, but you will need a little patience. Some of the documents or information you need will include your NAICS number, average number of employees, total work hours, OSHA 300A Summary report and, if required, your OSHA Log and OSHA 301 Form(s).
Additional News and Links
ODNR Update
New Program Available to Help Landowners Protect Hemlock Trees from an Invasive Insect
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry is now accepting applications for a first-of-its-kind program that will provide funding to help landowners battle an invasive insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) in their woodlands. Applications for the cost-share program are being accepted now through Friday, March 20.
The new program will provide cost-share funding for the treatment of hemlock forest areas of one to 25 acres. The payment rate for HWA control work is $700 per acre. The hemlock treatment work may be carried out by the landowner or a contractor hired by the landowner. Proposals will be accepted now through Friday, March 20, 2026. More details about the program, including the application form, are available at OhioDNR.gov/HWA.
Sedgwick Safety Article
NEOFA Newsletter
ECOFA Newsletter
SOFA Newsletter
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