National Hardwood Lumber Association Receives Grant From the USDA Forest Service

[Bill_D (Bill)]

National Hardwood Lumber Association Receives Grant From the USDA Forest Service

NHLA

Tue, June 27, 2023

MEMPHIS, TN / ACCESSWIRE / June 27, 2023 / The National Hardwood Lumber Association announced today that it has been awarded a $500,000 matching grant from the USDA Forest Service Wood Innovations Program to support and expand markets for the United States hardwood industry.

nhla anniversary

“We appreciate the USDA Forest Service supporting the hardwood forest industry’s important role in ensuring a sustainable future, healthy forests, and robust rural communities,” said Dallin Brooks, NHLA Executive Director. “The critical thing to consider with this project is, ‘What will move the market back to hardwood decorative products?’ The answer is important as we work to make a shift possible.”

NHLA’s focus is to grow and stabilize the hardwood lumber market and industry. The project team will work on several goals to 1) Create online content on hardwood information for architects, specifiers, designers, structural engineers, and other hardwood users. 2) Distribute content to architects, specifiers, designers, structural engineers, and other hardwood users in person and online. 3) Find and enhance communication to hardwood sawmills about optimization and education services provided by the Forest Service, NHLA, and other organizations to improve business operations, increase log yield recovery, find grant opportunities, understand automation, research grading impacts, and workforce development.

“The Forest Service is excited to work with the National Hardwood Lumber Association through the Wood Innovation Program to expand hardwood markets and increase the use of hardwood as a construction material,” said Brian Brashaw, Assistant Director, State, Private & Tribal Forestry, Wood Innovations. “Healthy forests depend on a healthy wood products economy, and this support will directly help improve the management and sustainability of our hardwood forests.”

Additionally, several NHLA members were awarded funds from the USDA Forest Service under the Wood Innovations and Community Wood grant programs.

• Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods $300,000
  Log Merchandising System for Expanded Forest Utilization in Southern Appalachia
• Matson Lumber Company $300,000
  Improving Forest Health by Minimizing Wood Waste in the Allegheny National Forest Region
• Brownlee Lumber, Inc. $300,000
  Advancing Sawmill Efficiency & Sustainable Forestry through Optimized Edger Technology
• Northwest Hardwoods, Inc. $262,318
  Microtec CT Log Scanning Feasibility Assessment
• Northern Hardwoods Lumber, LLC $1,000,000
  Northern Hardwoods Biomass Boiler and Energy System
• Dunaway Timber Company $300,000
  Wood Pellet Plant in Western Kentucky
• Bingaman & Son Lumber $1,000,000
  Hardwood Grade Scanner & Bin Sorter
• BPM Lumber $1,197,848
  Hardwood AI Optimized Grading & Ripping Vision Scanning System
• Cumberland Cooperage $1,000,000
  Kiln & Boiler System Upgrade

About USDA Forest Service - The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages the 193 million acres of National Forest System land, provides stewardship assistance to non-federal forest landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.

About NHLA - founded in 1898 to establish a uniform system of grading rules for the measurement and inspection of hardwood lumber. Learn more www.nhla.com.

Contact Information:

Renee Hornsby
Chief Operating Officer
r.hornsby@nhla.com
901-399-7560

SOURCE: National Hardwood Lumber Association

[Dallin_Brooks]

Thanks for Sharing Bill

[Nadia]

Congratulations to NHLA (@Dallin_Brooks @JOHN_HESTER @Jens_Lodholm) on the grant, and congratulations to the other 9 NHLA members who also received USDA Forest grants for the great environmental work they are all doing!