Hardwood Floors February/March 2026

By Dana Lee Cole

Department, funding flows from the Interior budget. On a positive note, the Senate proposal for Interior funding includes $30 million for the WIG program and $15 million for CWG. Although the House concurs with the $30 million for WIG, they have eliminated CWG funding; an issue the Hardwood Federation and our wood products allies already have taken up with House appropriators. WIG and CWG programs will not be authorized for funding until the Interior bill passes Congress and is signed by the president. The Interior bill also includes our policy rider enacted in 2017 and renewed every year since that calls upon EPA, DOE, and USDA to recognize the carbon neutrality of forest-based biomass energy. With staunch supporter Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee, we anticipate that the biomass rider once again will be reauthorized for FY 2026, if the bill can collect enough votes for final passage.

programs that support the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), should not be disrupted for at least another year. However, departments and agencies outside of Agriculture and Veterans affairs will have to wait until January to confirm their budgets as Congress and the White House continue to negotiate. Before the end of the year, work began in the Senate on four appropriations bills reported out of Senate committees earlier in 2025: Defense, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development. Waiting in the wings was FY 2026 funding for the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which funds critical programs including the Wood Innovation (WIG) and Community Wood Grant (CWG) programs. Although WIG and CWG are administered by the U.S. Forest Service located within the Agriculture