Bipartisan Legislation Aims to Spur Innovation for Georgia’s Forestry Industry

This article was prepared from information released on the news page of warnock.senate.gov, as well as the text of the Act itself, and is being shared here for AOTC readers with an interest in legislation affecting the forest products industry.

Georgia’s forestry industry is a boon for the state, injecting US$41.3 billion in economic impact in 2021. According to the Georgia Forestry Association, Georgia has 22 million acres of commercially available, private timberland, more than any other state. It also leads the nation in the export of 21 forest-based commodities with an estimated trade value of US$3.9 billion.

In August, 2025, US Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Jim Justice (R-WV), and Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the bipartisan Forest Bioeconomy Act. The legislation would help expand forest product research and build new markets by formally establishing an Office of Technology Transfer at the United States Forest Service (USFS) and authorizing US$5 million in appropriations. By expanding product research, this legislation will help create new jobs in rural Georgia.

“Georgia’s forestry industry is vital to our state’s economy and I’m proud to work with my colleagues to find a bipartisan solution to invest in the future success of this sector,” said Senator Warnock.

“To protect our communities from increasingly catastrophic wildfires, we need to make forest management more effective and scalable,” said Senator Heinrich. “By expanding technology transfer at the Forest Service and turning small-diameter trees into marketable wood products, we can create new revenue streams, scale up fuels reduction, and accelerate the work needed to reduce wildfire risk.”

“In West Virginia, we know the value of our forests and the importance of managing them wisely—not just for the beauty and recreation they offer, but also for the jobs and strengthening our economy,” said Senator Justice. “This bipartisan bill supports our rural economies, protects our communities from wildfires, and make the most of what our land gives us. It’s a win for the economy, environment, and for our people.”

“Seventy percent of Montana’s forests are federally owned, and we need to be doing all we can to ensure we’re good stewards of these lands,” said Senator Daines. “I’m proud to co-lead this bipartisan bill that will support proper forest management and create new markets for low value woody biomass.”

Senator Warnock has long fought for federal funding for communities, farmers, and forest landowners in Georgia. After Hurricane Helene, Senator Warnock remained on the frontlines of response efforts and pushed to deliver additional disaster assistance to Georgians, particularly Georgia’s hard-hit agricultural communities. In 2023, Senator Warnock introduced the Disaster Reforestation Act to help Georgia’s landowners recover from the loss of timber after natural disasters. Senator Warnock has been a leader in this space, also cosponsoring legislation in 2023 aimed at modernizing and improving the US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program to ensure the continued availability of reliable data and carbon analysis.

Georgia is the leading forestry state in the nation, leading not only in commercially available timberland but in volume of timber harvested, exports of forest products, seedling production for reforestation, and much more.

The Forest Bioeconomy Act would establish a new Mass Timber Science and Education program at colleges and universities across the country to respond to emerging research needs of architects, developers, and the forest products industry. As part of this effort, the Act will provide vouchers to small business concerns to be used at research facilities of the Forest Service for research, development, demonstration, technology transfer, skills training and workforce development, or commercial application activities.

The text of the bill calls for expanded wood-related research:

(1) to facilitate the establishment of new markets, including nontraditional markets, for material produced from forest management projects that typically has little or no commercial value;

(2) to increase the economic viability of manufacturing products using material described in paragraph (1); and

(3) as a feedstock for the production of renewable fuel, including sustainable aviation fuel.

Read full text of the bill HERE.