Timber Talk 4/7/2026

Jenna Reese
Apr 6
8 min read

Updated: Apr 6

OFA Update

Save the Date for the 2026 Legislative Reception

The OFA is excited to kick off the inaugural Forestry Day at the Statehouse. The event provides an opportunity for OFA members to come to Columbus and meet with their elected officials in their own environment.

Forestry Day will include an evening reception from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, in the Museum Gallery of the Ohio Statehouse, located at 1 Capitol Square Columbus, Ohio. OFA members are encouraged to meet with their elected officials throughout the day and will receive materials in advance.

Forestry Day at the Statehouse is a unique opportunity to tell your story to the members of the Ohio General Assembly and their staff. OFA encourages all of its members to make attending Forestry Day a priority.

Webinars, First Aid, and Short Courses, Oh my!

Registration is open on the OFA events page for several Spring and Summer courses available to both members and non-members, alike. We hope to have you at one of our upcoming First Aid, Lumber Grading, Kiln Drying, CSAW, or Master Logging courses, or at one of our new webinars in collaboration with regional OFA partners. We have several events open for registration in April and May-- view the calendar to see full details and to get registered while space is still available.

OFA EVENTS

OFA Partners with NHLA on their 2026

Convention

OFA will be partnering with the NHLA to help support their 2026 convention. The conference will take place in mid-September and will cater to all types of industry professionals. OFA members can use code OFAMEMBER2 for a discounted registration price or code OFAMEMBER for those that are both OFA and NHLA members.

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Market Update

HardwoodReview Forecasting

Hardwood lumber shipments to Vietnam surged unexpectedly in Jan, especially with log exports to Vietnam remaining strong, as well. On a combined cubic-meter basis, Vietnam is now the largest market for U.S. hardwood logs and lumber, importing 20% more than China and 21% more than Canada in Jan. While China accounted for 59% of the combined Jan increase in hardwood log shipments to Vietnam and China, Vietnam still accounted for two-thirds of the pie, and China volumes were only back to 61% of typical Jan shipments of the last five years.

Flooring sales and profitability struggled late in 2025, with lumber prices up more than strip flooring prices and increased competition from both imported wood flooring and non-wood substitutes; challenges made worse by the housing affordability crisis. A slight year-over-year increase in winter receipts of engineered flooring suggests the pressure will remain, with Vietnam again the largest supplier and on a Jan pace to surpass last year’s record volume, fueled increasingly by U.S. hardwood logs. Even with log volumes converted to a conservative board-foot yield estimate, 3% more hardwood logs than lumber shipped to Vietnam in Jan. And, Vietnam’s heavy favoritism for logs over lumber holds for every major species except White Oak and Poplar.

Legislative Update

The following is brought to us by our national partner, the Forest Resources Association (FRA)

Forest Service to Relocate HQ to Utah and Shift to State‑Centered Operating Model

The U.S. Forest Service announced, on Tuesday, a major restructuring that will move its national headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah, placing the Chief and much of the agency’s leadership closer to the forests and communities they manage. USDA leaders framed the move as a “common‑sense” modernization effort intended to improve mission delivery, reduce bureaucracy, and strengthen recruitment by shifting staff and decision‑making authority westward. Approximately two‑thirds of National Capital Region positions will relocate, while one‑third—including the Associate Chief—will remain in D.C. to support interagency and congressional coordination.

Alongside the relocation, the Forest Service will transition from its long‑standing regional structure to a new state‑based organizational model. Fifteen state directors will oversee operations, forest supervisors, and partnerships within one or more states, supported by small state‑level leadership teams. Many functions previously housed in regional offices will shift to a network of Operations Service Centers located in Albuquerque, Athens, Fort Collins, Madison, Missoula, and Placerville. The agency will also consolidate its research stations into a single national Research and Development organization headquartered in Fort Collins. While regional offices will close, several facilities, including Juneau, Vallejo, and Albuquerque, will be retained for specific mission needs. Throughout the transition, the Forest Service emphasizes that frontline work—forest management, wildfire response, restoration, recreation, and partnerships—will continue without interruption.

ESA Ruling Restores Older Standards, Slowing Consultations and Project Timelines

A federal district court has vacated four Trump‑era amendments to ESA Section 7 consultation rules, restoring the stricter pre‑2019 framework. The court found that the amendments—especially the narrowed definition of “adverse modification” and the acceptance of mitigation measures without concrete implementation plans—conflicted with the ESA and weakened consultation safeguards. Because agencies must now revert to older standards, any consultation that relied on the vacated provisions may require re‑analysis, supplemental documentation, or resubmission, creating near‑term slowdowns for Forest Service projects, federal permitting, and other actions requiring FWS review.

At the same time, the Trump Administration is advancing a new ESA rulemaking package that would again revise consultation standards, narrow critical habitat, eliminate automatic 4(d) protections for newly listed threatened species, and expand reliance on future or unspecified mitigation. Until that proposal is finalized, agencies must operate under the restored pre‑2019 rules while preparing for another regulatory shift. This back‑and‑forth—vacatur now, new rulemaking underway—creates a fluid regulatory environment that is likely to delay some Forest Service–FWS consultations, particularly those already in progress or those involving complex habitat or mitigation issues. FRA comments supporting the proposed ESA changes can be found here.

H-2B Visas

The H‑2B Workforce Coalition urges the State Department to reinstate interview waivers for qualified returning H‑2B workers, emphasizing that mandatory interviews and reduced consular staffing are causing significant processing delays. These delays prevent employers from securing essential seasonal workers in time for peak operating periods, threatening business continuity and the American jobs supported by H‑2B labor across industries such as forestry, seafood, landscaping, lodging, and tourism. The letter—sent to Secretary of State Rubio—stresses that returning H‑2B workers are already well‑vetted and pose minimal risk, making interview waivers an efficient and practical solution. FRA, as a member of the coalition’s steering committee, supports this request to ensure timely visa processing and reduce disruptions for employers who rely on the program for seasonal forestry work.

EPA Removes DEF Sensor Requirement for Diesel Engines

With EPA’s updated guidance, DEF sensors are no longer required on new diesel equipment, removing a frequent cause of unnecessary shutdowns. The change does not alter Tier 4 emissions limits, but it gives manufacturers more flexibility to design after‑treatment systems that are simpler, more reliable, and less prone to electronic failure. This shift is expected to improve equipment uptime and reduce maintenance issues tied to DEF system faults.

Initially, DEF sensors were implemented to confirm the use of properly formulated diesel exhaust fluid in engines. However, they frequently became a leading cause of unexpected shutdowns and performance reductions. Malfunctions or inaccurate readings from DEF quality sensors could force fully operational diesel equipment to decelerate abruptly or shut down entirely, resulting in machine downtime during critical periods. Such failures contributed to considerable downtime, increased repair costs, and raised safety concerns, particularly for operators who depend on consistent equipment functionality.

Renewable Fuel Standard

On March 27, the Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule implementing the Renewable Fuel Standard or RFS. Recall this is a volumetric liquid fuel mandate that was enacted as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. Because the statutory language in EISA disqualifies fuels derived from virtually any woody biomass, forest landowners and other stakeholders have been working to expand eligibility to fuels derived from standing timber on private lands. While EPA sought comment on this aspect of the mandate, the final rule makes no changes to the definition of “renewable biomass.”

This development marks the end of the regulatory channel for securing changes to the RFS. Landowner groups have indicated that they will continue to pursue a legislative fix to the mandate this Congress and have recruited key champions in the House and Senate. However, these champions have signaled recently that any legislation altering the renewable biomass definition in the RFS would need to have protections for pulp and paper manufacturers. We will keep you regularly updated on developments in this space.

Fuel Costs

Higher diesel prices increase operating costs and affect delivered wood costs across the supply chain. These cost spikes make it harder for logging and trucking operations to maintain margins and may lead to broader disruptions if the trend continues. An FRA Technical Release from 2022 examined these impacts, and its findings remain relevant as fuel prices trend upward again.

Safety Update

Sedgwick Safety Services

Controlling costs with the Disability Relief Program

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) offers the Disability Relief Program (formerly known as Handicap Reimbursement) to potentially offset claim costs and encourage employers to hire and retain employees with disabling conditions. Ohio Revised Code 4123.343 recognizes 26 conditions / disabilities in which, under some circumstances, the employer may be eligible for reimbursement of partial claim costs. The disability percentage awarded by BWC will reduce claim costs without reducing the benefits to the injured worker. The reduced claim costs can result in sizable premium reductions.

Eligibility Requirements

If an employee suffers a lost-time industrial injury/ occupational injury or death, the claim may be eligible for disability relief if it can be shown that the disability pre-existed the industrial injury or occupational disease and either caused the claim or contributed to increased costs or delay in recovery. Additionally, one of the following benefit types must have been paid in the claim:

• Temporary total compensation

• Permanent total disability

• Permanent partial-scheduled loss

• Survivor benefits

• Wages in lieu of temporary total disability

Application Filing Deadlines

Private Employers:

• If the date of injury is between Jan. 1 and June 30, the application must be filed by June 30 of the year no more than six years from the year of the date of injury or occupational disease.

• If the date of injury is between July 1 and Dec. 31, the application must be filed by June 30 of the year no more than seven years from the year of the date of the injury or occupational disease.

Public Employers:

• A public employer must file the application by Dec. 31 of the year no more than six years from the year of the date of the injury or occupational disease.

The Sedgwick cost containment team conducts reviews on claims which meet the eligibility requirements for disability relief, files the application and attends the disability hearing on behalf of our Ohio TPA clients.

If you have any questions, contact our Paul Feck with Sedgwick at paul.feck@sedgwick.com.

Additional News and Links

Holden Arboretum Field Day

The Holden Arboretum is inviting OFA members to join them for their Working Woods Field Day on June 6th from 9am-4pm. Expect a different format from their traditional field day involving shorter tour loops throughout the day, and opportunities to network with landowners and forestry business professionals. Feel encouraged to bring your business cards or brochures to display.

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