Family forests produce critical goods and services to meet the needs of all Americans—from wood for forest products, to clean drinking water, to carbon capture and storage that reduces risks posed by a changing climate. These are just some of the tangible benefits that can be sold in a marketplace, generating diverse income streams for forest owners. Growing and diversifying markets for these products, especially as the traditional timber market is changing and in many places shrinking, will drive private sector investment into these lands and strengthen landowners’ ability to keep their forests healthy and productive.

Far too often, family forest owners are locked out of participating in markets and accessing private investment that can support the health and productivity of their woods. Unlocking access to traditional and emerging markets and growing these markets and related financing – like forest products and the voluntary carbon market – help equip landowners to diversify their income, access expert forestry support to ensure sustainable management, and increase the value of their woodlands. Landowner access and market growth requires public-private partnerships and a supportive policy environment to incentivize private investment into rural economies. 

Priority tracks:

• Financing tools: Credit enhancement mechanisms—such as loan or bond guarantees—help reduce perceived risks for investors and buyers by improving the creditworthiness of investments. These tools, like the Rural Forest Markets Act, can build investor confidence in the market.   
• Market certainty and transparency: New markets like the voluntary carbon market or new forest products markets are inherently risky, due to their early-stage nature. Producers, buyers, and all market stakeholders need certainty and transparency to confidently participate in new and emerging markets. To unlock the full potential of private forests, we need clear market standards, transparency around price and products, and strategies to reduce barriers so that landowners can participate with confidence and be compensated for the benefits their forests provide.
• Ensuring new tariff policies are compatible with working family forests: Tariffs and expanding timber harvesting on federal lands, while aimed at boosting domestic production, can draw markets away from private forests to focus on harvesting public lands, thus creating more competition for smaller private lands. To support rural families and strengthen America’s timber supply, we must invest in diverse markets and programs and minimize tariff impacts on small forest owners, like through the Advancing Markets for Producers initiative and the ongoing Forest Landowner Support program, that help family forest owners stay competitive and keep forests as forests while sustaining an increased timber supply for an expanded U.S. industry.

Family forest owners are often hit first and worst by extreme weather events. Wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts, invasive species, and disease are increasingly affecting the health and value of these small woodlands. In the face of extreme weather and a changing climate, landowners need tools to help prepare for and recover from disasters now more than ever. 

Priority Tracks:

• Disaster relief implementation: Disaster relief programs should be designed and implemented to meet the unique needs of forest landowners recovering from natural disasters. Timely financial assistance, technical support, and streamlined access to resources are essential to help landowners restore their forests and reduce future risk. Ensuring forest landowners are included in federal and state disaster response frameworks strengthens both community resilience and the long-term health of our nation’s forests.
• Tax certainty for landowners post-disaster: Current tax policy does not provide adequate support for forest landowners who lose their timber to natural disasters, often limiting deductions to little or no value. This creates long-term financial hardship, as landowners must wait decades for new timber to mature while continuing to pay annual expenses. Legislation like the Disaster Reforestation Act would amend the tax code to allow landowners to deduct the full market value of lost timber, offering critical financial support and tax certainty in the wake of disaster.
• Public investment in private lands wildfire and other threat mitigation: Federal and state investment in wildfire mitigation on private land that catalyze private sector investment is critical to reducing the risk of catastrophic fires and other threats that threaten communities and public health. Since family forest owners manage the largest portion of the nation’s forested landscape, equipping them with resources for proactive management such as fuels reduction is essential for large-scale fire resilience. Strategic investment not only protects lives and property but also strengthens the health and sustainability of America’s forests.

Family forest owners often struggle to keep their forests healthy and intact given the technical and financial burden of owning land. They are increasingly faced with threats of corporate buyouts and urban development. In addition to growing and unlocking market access for these landowners that can help finance these benefits, conservation incentives such as government cost-sharing are more important than ever to further support these benefits.

Priority Tracks:

• Voluntary conservation programs: Programs such as the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR), Forest Stewardship Program, Cooperative Extension, Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG), and technical and financial assistance through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Joint Chiefs initiatives all play a vital role in supporting family forest owners. These programs provide critical funding and expert guidance that help landowners implement sustainable forest management practices, improve wildlife habitat, enhance water quality, and reduce wildfire risk. 
• Protecting current tax policy for family forests: Just like many other businesses, small landowners have regular, ongoing expenses for caring for their land. They also face incredible risks – from wildfires to hurricanes to ice storms – that can wipe out a family’s asset in an instant. Current tax policies include deductions for regular forest management expenses and amortization of reforestation expenses and capital gains treatment of timber income. Keeping these policies in place as the tax code evolves will ensure these landowners can protect their timber assets in the wake of disasters.