OFA Update
Master Logger Certification Class
Registration for the next series of Master Logger trainings is now open.
The dates are April 16th and 17th at Fernwood State Forest in Bloomingdale, Ohio. This is a two-day training consisting of three separate training types: BMP, CSAW, and First Aid/ CPR. All are needed to gain the Ohio Master Logger Certification. We will be holding in-class portions at the Fernwood State Forest, Forest Service Center, beginning with the in-class portion of CSAW on the 16th and followed by First Aid/ CPR and BMP the 17th.
Consulting Forestry Workshop: Information and Updates on Landowner Incentive Programs
This one-day workshop will include information and updates from ODNR Division of Forestry on landowner incentive programs such as CAUV, OFTL, EQIP, and CSP. In addition updated language regarding BMPs and the FP3 program will be shared. A panel of county auditors will share their perspectives on reviewing forest management plans. There will also be two field sessions designed to review how different parties might evaluate the attributes of each site (e.g. invasive species, timber, etc.).
Location: Secrest Arboretum, Wooster, Ohio
Time: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Market Update
HardwoodReview Forecasting
Hardwood lumber sales are improving but production thus far is not. Among the trifecta of log supply issues, log/timber prices now trump weather and the lack of loggers. However, it is likely also true that, even if mills were willing to pay significantly more for logs than they are worth in lumber, weather and the lack of loggers would still be significant limiting factors. Though the demand pull from secondary markets is starting to increase, most notably from the cabinet sector, recent price gains in Red Oak, Poplar and Ash appear to have been largely driven by a bit of a scramble to procure available inventory, which more than a few producers have indicated is the lowest of their careers. Some producers and yards reported very good Jan sales and many have good orders in Feb, but with log and green lumber prices rising faster than KD prices, margins are worsening.
Thus far, the U.S. has imposed no new tariffs on Canada or Mexico, and China did not include wood products in its reciprocal tariffs, though the threats remain. However tight lumber supplies get, and however high prices for some items climb, things could quickly rebalance or shift to a buyers market if the Q1 America First Trade Policy investigations lead to Q2 trade sanctions.
Legislative Update
Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production
On Saturday, March 1, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order expanding American Timber Production. OFA and its national partners will review and communicate the implications of the order in the near future. In the meantime, you can view the executive order here.
American Hardwood Export Council Approved for 2025 USDA Funding
BREAKING NEWS: The USDA has officially approved AHEC’s full-year 2025 funding, allowing operations to resume as usual in the coming days.
The following update is from our national partner, the Forest Resources Association
FRA Executive Committee Annual Meeting
This week, the FRA Executive Committee (EC) gathered for its annual meeting in Washington, DC. On Wednesday, FRA EC members engaged in 40 meetings with members of both the House and Senate, with nearly 50% of those scheduled directly with Congressional Members. This event highlighted FRA’s dedication to strong advocacy and direct engagement with top policymakers to support the wood supply chain. FRA’s Hill meetings focused on advancing key policy priorities for the 119th Congress.Congressman Pete Stauber (R-MN-08) set the tone for the day by addressing EC members during the breakfast meeting. That evening, FRA hosted a social event for Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-AR-04), who shared enthusiastic views about the industry’s future and mentioned that the bipartisan Fix our Forest Act has a good chance of becoming law this Congress. FRA staff also met with Congressman GT Thompson (R-PA-15) to discuss the 2025 Farm Bill. Congressman Thompson assured FRA that the provisions of the Jobs in the Woods Act would be included in the Farm Bill and expressed optimism that the Farm Bill will be passed this year.
Tom Schultz Will Be the New Forest Service Chief
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced yesterday that Tom Schultz will serve as Forest Service Chief after Randy Moore steps down on March 3. Schultz is the former VP of Resources and Government Affairs at Idaho Forest Group, an FRA member company. His extensive experience in both the public and private sectors uniquely positions him to enhance the Forest Service and support communities that depend on federal land management.“I can think of no better individual to lead the charge in implementing active management of federal forestlands, improving forest health and resilience for the benefit of communities, wildlife, and water quality.” – Tim O’Hara, FRA President.Schultz, who has overseen state forests and rangelands in Idaho and Montana, was previously appointed by President Donald Trump as chief of staff for natural resources and environment at the USDA. On Thursday, Rollins expressed confidence in Schultz’s leadership, stating he is the right person to guide the agency responsible for managing 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands.“I will work tirelessly to further support and protect our rural communities,” Schultz said in a statement. “Working with our partners, we will actively manage national forests and grasslands, increase opportunities for outdoor recreation, and suppress wildfires with all available resources emphasizing safety and the importance of protecting resource values.”FRA would like to thank Chief Moore for his 45-year service with the Forest Service.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer: Labor Secretary Nominee
Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer advanced out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and will face a full Senate Vote in early March. Democrats are expected to join Republicans in confirming Chavez-DeRemer. FRA supports Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination. In a statement, FRA noted, “We valued working with Ms. Chavez-DeRemer during her time in Congress representing Oregon’s 5th District. We particularly appreciated her leadership in introducing the Jobs in the Woods Act, H.R. 5344. Like many other businesses, forestry-related employers face significant challenges in finding enough willing and qualified employees. Many of our members rely on the H-2B program for seasonal employment to support their domestic workforce.” That letter of support may be found HERE.
Forest Products Coalition Authors Letter on EUDR to President Trump
A coalition representing the U.S. forest products value chain is calling on the Trump Administration to engage with European counterparts regarding the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Supply Chains (EUDR), which threatens U.S. forest product exports to Europe starting in December 2025. While the regulation aims to prevent deforestation-linked products from entering the EU market, its stringent compliance requirements unfairly disadvantage the U.S. industry, which is a global leader in sustainable forest management. The regulation’s strict geolocation and traceability mandates are impractical given the scale of the U.S. supply chain and could disrupt $3.5 billion in trade. Despite a delay in implementation, fundamental compliance challenges remain unresolved. U.S. engagement is essential to ensure the EUDR does not impose unnecessary trade barriers that harm millions of private landowners, manufacturing jobs, and the broader U.S. forest products sector. Click HERE to read the letter that received 61 signatories including the Ohio Forestry Association.
Transportation
FRA confirmed this week that Congressman Tony Wied (R-WI-08) plans to reintroduce the Safe Routes Act in the next couple of weeks. This is an encouraging development as he sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which will hold the pen on reauthoring the next Surface Transportation Reauthorization legislation, otherwise known as the Highway Bill. That statute expires in September 2026, and Congress will be active in the next few months on hearings and receiving input on items that should be addressed in this comprehensive measure. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) will be introducing the bill in the Senate.At an event this week for Congressman David Rouzer (R-NC-07)—Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Highways and Transit Subcommittee—we learned that the Committee would be opening a portal sometime in April to receive policy recommendations for the upcoming highway bill rewrite. FRA will work with Representative Wied and his team to ensure that Chairman Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO-06) and his committee staff know the many safety and efficiency benefits the Safe Routes Act would deliver.
Tax/Budget Reconciliation
This week, the House approved its version of a budget resolution by a 217-215 vote, following similar action by the Senate last week. Budget resolutions do not require Executive Branch action, so the first step in the budget reconciliation process to enact several GOP policy priorities is complete. Focus will now turn to committee action, where relevant committees have been issued “instructions” to compile legislation to address issues in each panel’s jurisdiction. Once the committees have completed their work, the House Rules Committee will roll all of the bills up into one legislative package for consideration.Given that the House and Senate budget resolutions are very different, it is anticipated that the House will act first with House leadership “pre-conferencing” the legislative product with Senate leadership before House passage. Once the measure clears the lower chamber, the Senate will take up the House-passed reconciliation bill with only a simple majority of the 100-seat Senate chamber needed for passage. As we have noted, the reconciliation bill will include an extension of the research and development tax credit, the 100 percent bonus depreciation benefit, and the Sec. 199A deduction for S-Corporations, among other items.
Tariffs
Next week, 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico are slated to take effect. The specific date is March 4, although, during his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the President stated that the Canadian-Mexican tariffs would take effect on April 2. White House officials have since walked that back and underscored that these tariffs would begin to be collected on March 4. In addition, the existing 10 percent tariff on imports from China will be doubled to 20 percent next week.After the initial announcement that the President intended to tariff Canadian and Mexican imports beginning in February, Canadian officials announced that retaliation would be swift. Products that were specifically targeted for retaliation are forest products, including lumber, pulp and paper. FRA is monitoring developments closely.
USTR Container Ship Fees
On February 21, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced it would propose fees on Chinese ships and operators calling on U.S. ports in response to China’s growing maritime influence, which the Administration deems to be an unreasonable risk to U.S. commerce. The fees, which could be up to $1.5 million, are causing major concern up and down the manufacturing and retailing supply chain. The proposal follows a trade investigation into China’s practices in the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries that began under the Biden administration and concluded with a report just four days before the President took office. The inquiry concluded that Beijing was unfairly dominating the sectors and said “urgent action” was needed to address the issue. Specifically, the measures include port entrance fees of up to $1 million per ship owned by a Chinese vessel operator or up to $1,000 per net ton of a vessel’s capacity. For international maritime transport operators whose fleets are comprised solely of Chinese ships, the port entrance fee would amount to $1.5 million, according to USTR. For operators with fleets comprised of 50 percent or more Chinese-built vessels, the charge will be up to $1 million per vessel entrance to a U.S. port. The fee would be reduced if the percentage was below 50.The comment deadline on this proposal is March 24. FRA is discussing strategy with other impacted trade associations here in D.C. It appears there may be a joint trade association letter to USTR under development. We will be reviewing that communication once it is finalized.
Corporate Transparency Act
In a welcome development, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced yesterday that it is ceasing enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) while crafting a new set of regulations that will ultimately narrow the reporting regime’s scope. The CTA’s reporting requirements were scheduled to take effect once again beginning March 21. FinCEN announced that it will not issue any fines or penalties or take any other enforcement actions against companies based on any failure to file or update beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act by the current deadlines. No fines or penalties will be issued, and no enforcement actions will be taken until a forthcoming interim final rule becomes effective and the new relevant due dates in the interim final rule have passed. This announcement continues the Treasury’s commitment to reducing the regulatory burden on businesses and prioritizing under the Corporate Transparency Act the reporting of BOI for entities that pose the most significant law enforcement and national security risks. [Emphasis added.]FinCEN also made clear that a new proposed rule will be unveiled next month and will likely include significant changes to the existing reporting regime:No later than March 21, 2025, FinCEN intends to issue an interim final rule that extends BOI reporting deadlines, recognizing the need to provide new guidance and clarity as quickly as possible, while ensuring that BOI that is highly useful to important national security, intelligence, and law enforcement activities is reported.FinCEN also intends to solicit public comment on potential revisions to existing BOI reporting requirements. FinCEN will consider those comments as part of a notice of proposed rulemaking anticipated to be issued later this year to minimize the burden on small businesses while ensuring that BOI is highly useful to important national security, intelligence, and law enforcement activities, as well to determine what, if any, modifications to the deadlines referenced here should be considered.
Safety Update
Substance Use Prevention & Recovery Program (SUPR) formerly Drug Free Safety Program (DFSP)
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is merging the Drug Free Safety and Substance Use Recovery programs into a new, streamlined program called Substance Use Prevention & Recovery Program (SUPR). BWC made the changes to enhance and simplify overlapping programs into one integrated, unified program. The goal is to reduce customer confusion, increase program utilization, reduce customer paperwork, improve internal administrative efficiencies and streamline processes for both customers and BWC.
An overview of the changes include:
DFSP Safety grants are replaced entirely with SUR grants
DFSP participants are automatically eligible to request SUR grants
Expands reimbursable expenses to include substance use assessments for employers with “second chance” policies
Switches from a limited enrollment window to year-round rolling enrollments with the ability to earn pro rata premium bonus
Eliminates requirements to file the Safety Management Self-Assessment (SH-26) and Safety Action Plan (DFSP-5) forms and requires filing of the Accident Report (DFSP-1) only for lost-time injuries
Integrates the enrollment processes for DFSP and SUR into one application
Moves SUR grant requests to an online format
Creates an online “as-you-go” format to allow employers to upload annual report documents throughout the program period
Provides an online employee and supervisor training option through BWC’s Learning Management System
The SUPR effective date for private employers is July 1, 2025. The effective date for public employers is January 1, 2026. For more information on the SUPR program, click here.
If you have any questions, contact our Sedgwick program manager, Paul Feck at paul.feck@sedgwick.com.
Upcoming Events
Consulting Forestry Workshop
3/13/2025
Location: Wooster, Ohio Time: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Logger Chapter Meetings
Southern Ohio Loggers Chapter Meeting
3/11/2025
Location: Lucasville, Ohio Time: 7:00 pm
Scioto River Valley Loggers Chapter Meeting
3/20/2025
Location: Scioto Township Fire Hall, Wakefield, Ohio Time: 7:00 PM
Northwest Ohio Loggers Chapter Meeting
3/26/2025
Location: Findlay, Ohio
Muskingum Valley Loggers Chapter
4/9/2025
Location: F.O.E., McConnelsville, Ohio Time: 7:00 PM
Southeastern Ohio Loggers Chapter Meeting
4/16/2025
Location: Shawn Sexton's Lodge, Jackson, Ohio Time: 6:00 PM
Master Logger Certification Class
4/16/2025 » 4/17/2025
Location: Bloomingdale, Ohio
Camp Canopy
6/8/2025 » 6/13/2025
Location: Carrollton, Ohio
2025 Lumber Grading Short Course
6/16/2025 » 6/19/2025
Location: Millersburg, Ohio Time: 8:00 - 4:00 Daily
2025 Paul Bunyan Show
10/3/2025 » 10/5/2025
Location: Old Washington, Ohio
2026 OFA Annual Meeting
3/11/2026 » 3/12/2026
Location: Hyatt Regency Columbus
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