Forest Landowners Association Urges Senate to Pass a Bipartisan Farm Bill that Provides Certainty for America’s Family Forestry Businesses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Forest Landowners Association today urged the U.S. Senate to work across party lines and pass a bipartisan Farm Bill that gives America’s family forestry businesses the certainty they need to keep their working forests healthy, productive, and resilient.
While the Senate Agriculture Committee did not advance the Agricultural Act of 2026 before the August recess, the Committee made meaningful bipartisan progress by unanimously approving an en bloc package of amendments by voice vote. Among those amendments was a bipartisan proposal led by Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) to ensure timber is eligible under disaster block grant authorities. The amendment was included in Chairman John Boozman’s en bloc package and unanimously approved by the Committee.
The amendment was developed through a collaborative effort between the Forest Landowners Association, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the National Association of State Foresters, and Senators Tuberville and Warnock to ensure working forests are treated equitably when disaster assistance is delivered following hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters.
“We are grateful to Senators Tuberville and Warnock for their bipartisan leadership in championing this important amendment and to Chairman Boozman for including it in the en bloc package approved by the Committee,” said Craig Anderson, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Forest Landowners Association. “This provision recognizes that family forestry businesses are an integral part of American agriculture and ensures timber producers have greater access to critical disaster assistance when catastrophic events occur.”
Anderson continued, “While we’re encouraged by this bipartisan progress, the work is far from finished. America’s family forestry businesses need the certainty that only a new Farm Bill can provide. Congress has an opportunity to come together and deliver bipartisan legislation that strengthens rural America, supports active forest management, improves disaster recovery, and gives family forestry businesses the confidence to continue investing in the long-term health and productivity of their working forests.”
“The Forest Landowners Association stands ready to work with members of both parties to enact a Farm Bill that reflects the needs of America’s private forest landowners. We urge the Senate to build on this momentum and pass a bipartisan Farm Bill that keeps our nation’s working forests healthy, productive, and resilient for generations to come.”
FLA looks forward to continuing to work with members of both parties, the Administration, NASDA, NASF, and other rural partners to enact a bipartisan Farm Bill that provides certainty for private forest landowners and ensures America’s working forests remain healthy, productive, and resilient for generations to come.