Hardwood Floors October/November 2017

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

By Dana Cole

Photo courtesy of Adam Donohue, Gallery D Photography

NWFA participants at this year’s Hardwood Federation Fly-In. Back Row (L to R): Emily Morrow Finkell, EF Floors & Design; Jack Shannon III, Shannon Lumber Group; Michael Martin, NWFA; Darwin Murray, Springcreek Flooring; Jeff Wirkkala, Hardwood Industries Inc.; Tommy Maxwell, Maxwell Hardwood Flooring; John Forbes, NWFA; Jim Mahaffey, Derr Flooring Co. Front Row (L to R): Allie Finkell, American OEM; Don Finkell, American OEM; Chris Zizza, C&R Flooring; Dan Corullo, Action Floor Systems LLC; and Rick Holden, Derr Flooring Co.

THE FALL AGENDA

for the re funding issues that have plagued the Forest Service and allow expedited environmental analysis, essentially an action versus no action decision, for certain collaborative forest activities on lands suitable for timber production or covered by a community wild re protection plan. e Federation is strongly advocating for this bill to move forward and be taken up by the Senate. Tax Reform In addition to supporting tax measures that help private forestland owners retain their lands as forests (and as a vital source of raw materials for the industry), the Hardwood Federation is also supporting measures that would help increase demand for sawmill residuals. Speci cally, we are proponents of the Biomass ermal Utilization Act (BTU Act), which would qualify high-e cient biomass heating systems that run on wood pellets or wood chips for the same investment tax credits (30 percent of installed cost) that wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewables get.

e autumn months are always busy ones in Washington, D.C. A er returning from their traditional August recess, members of Congress are usually eager to get back to work. e fall of 2017 is also important as those up for re-election in 2018 work to show their constituents that they have been making progress and a ecting the changes that voters want to see. e Hardwood Federation is working on a number of issues on behalf of the industry during the nal months of the year. Priority issues include the following: Federal Forest Management Meaningful reform of the U.S. Forest Service management of our national forest lands has been close in the last few years, but has never quite crossed the goal line. e Hardwood Federation is supporting H.R. 2936, which authorizes categorical exclusions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and allows timber sales on federal lands to move forward more quickly. e bill would also provide a solution

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