Family-owned forests can help fuel America’s renewable energy
However, the article failed to highlight that the Biomass Crop Assistance Program is an important taxpayer investment for reasons in addition to renewable energy. The families and individuals who own most of America’s forests and supply the materials used for lumber, paper, or energy, struggle everyday to generate enough income to keep their land in forests and resist the pressure to sell to developers.
If these owners cannot keep their forest, neither the energy or forest products industry will have enough materials to supply their mills and the American people will not have the clean water and air, wildlife habitat, or scenic wonders that we all benefit from.
We need to find an appropriate balance of federal support for all forest markets so the owners of America’s woodlands have a diversity of viable markets to help them keep their land, support rural economies and healthy forest landscapes.
As traditional markets for forest products undergo transition and in some locations, decline, new markets and income opportunities that supplement, not replace, existing markets should be allowed to develop.
