New program will support U.S. wood processing facilities
WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack recently unveiled a new program to support American wood processing facilities. USDA Rural Development is partnering with USDA Forest Service to provide funding through the new Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP).
The program will support the processing and utilization of wood products from National Forest System lands to improve forest health and reduce the risk posed by wildfires, insects, and disease and the detrimental impacts they have on communities and critical infrastructure across the United States.
Through TPEP, USDA Rural Development and the Forest Service will make $220 million available in loan guarantees for borrowers to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve wood processing facilities, sawmills and paper mills that use trees that have been harvested from federal or Tribal lands.
The new program is designed to manage up to 20 million acres of national forests managed by USDA Forest Service and complement the impact of the Forest Service’s 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy.