Yellowhammer Times

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) introduced an amendment to the Fix Our Forests Act during a recent Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry meeting. The amendment included the text of the Disaster Reforestation Act, which aims to provide financial relief for forest landowners who lose timber due to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, pest infestations, or disease outbreaks.

Currently, forest landowners are not eligible for financial assistance after such events. The proposed amendment would allow these landowners to deduct the appraised value of their uncut timber before it is destroyed, provided they commit to replanting within five years.

During the committee meeting, Senator Tuberville addressed his colleagues, stating: “My amendment is [to] the Disaster Reforestation Act. Our foresters are struggling. We must do something to help them, or we’re going to be importing all of our lumber and wood products, despite having ample Southern Yellow Pine across Alabama and Georgia. I filed this amendment […] for the purpose of raising awareness of the large gap in relief efforts available to private forest landowners when a natural disaster strikes.

Our forest landowners grow a crop that takes decades to mature but when a hurricane, tornado, pest, or disease outbreak strikes, they do not have crop insurance or standing disaster programs available to them. Our amendment would adjust the tax code [and] allow landowners to deduct the appraised value of their uncut timber prior to it being destroyed if they commit to replacing [their timber] within five years. This will not make them whole, but it allows them to reinvest, keep forests healthy, and sustain rural jobs.

With sawmill closures and lost residual markets for pulp and paper, many landowners cannot weather future storms. This is the simplest and easiest way to give them a helping hand to continue their best forest management practices, reestablish economic prosperity and rural America, and advance the Trump Administration’s goal of boosting the domestic timber supply.

I recognize this amendment falls under the Finance Committee’s jurisdiction, so I will withdraw the amendment today. But I ask for your commitment to work together to ensure these landowners get the help they need.”

Senator Tuberville withdrew the amendment but called on his colleagues to support efforts in the Senate Committee on Finance to address the issue. Tuberville serves on several Senate committees, including Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP, and Aging.