Federal wood processing loan fund could have applications in Maine

Map / Courtesy USDA Rural Development This Forest Service map shows areas determined to be very high priority (red) or high priority (yellow) for ecological restoration where wildfires, insect infestations or disease have caused or will cause significant damage.

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By Laurie Schreiber

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has identified woodlands in Maine that could be a good fit for a new federal loan program targeting wood processing facilities.

The Forest Service developed a map to show areas determined to be very high priority or high priority for ecological restoration where wildfires, insect infestations or disease have caused or will cause significant damage.

To be eligible for the new program, projects must use byproducts from those areas.

The Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program will provide loan guarantees to approved lenders to finance projects that use wood products while improving forest health and reducing the risk posed by wildfires, insects and disease, according to a news release.

The loans can be used to reopen, retrofit, expand or improve wood processing facilities that use trees harvested from federal or Tribal lands.

The program is a partnership between two USDA agencies: the Forest Service and Rural Development.

“At USDA, we’ve been working hard to develop this financing tool to help support the timber industry,” said Rhiannon Hampson, Rural Development’s Maine state director. “Wood-based manufacturing is part of our Maine heritage, and with sufficient investment, it can play a vital role in the future.”

The loan program could help translate more opportunities into jobs and well-managed forests, she added.

Through the program, 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.

Eligible projects must initially use ecosystem restoration byproducts from federal or Tribal lands considered high- or very-high priority for ecological restoration involving vegetation removal.

The program is intended to support the timber industry and to benefit up to 20 million acres of national forests managed by the Forest Service.

For more information, click here.