ESFPA E-News

ESFPA Attends Farm Bill Listening Session in Binghamton 

Today, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15), hosted a Farm Bill listening session in Binghamton, New York. Mr. Thompson was joined by Rep. Marc Molinaro (NY-19), along with bipartisan Members of the House Committee on Agriculture. The event brought together farmers, ranchers, producers, agribusiness owners, and more to solicit public feedback—an integral part of the Farm Bill reauthorization process. All members of the Committee were invited to participate as well as the New York Congressional delegation.

ESFPA Executive Director, John Bartow, attended this session and presented his remarks. He stated that ESFPA is the single voice in New York for wood product manufacturers and entities involved in the supply chain from forests to mills to consumers. The Farm Bill presents an important opportunity to address and support the needs of the U.S. forests and wood products industry. Key issues he asked the House Committee to consider during their deliberations include the following five areas:

• Forests and Conservation
• Wood Products Carbon Storage
• USDA Biomass Energy Program Funding  
• Wood in Affordable Housing 
• USDA Export Promotion Program Funding

Read ESFPA's full in-depth remarks below:

3D-Printed Wood Could Quite Literally Save the Trees

By Olivia Harvey

With 3D printed homes becoming an affordable and fast option in tackling the housing crisis in America, scientists have been dreaming up new ways to make the entire homebuilding industry even more sustainable using the technology. And thanks to a discovery made by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 3D-printed wood could mean the end of deforestation.

According to a report from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, between 2015 and 2020, deforestation was estimated at about 10 million hectares per year. Agriculture is the main cause of mass deforestation, but logging — both legal and illegal — for purposes of building, paper making, and more, is the second largest cause. And deforestation means the devastation of natural ecosystems, plants, and animals that called those hectares home.

Scientists affiliated with MIT and the Charles Stark Draper Library first began experimenting with cells from the Zinnia elegans (aka the zinnia plant) to see if living cells could be lab-grown and customized into a wood-like material that can be used to build — similar to how scientists can already engineer animal cells to grow into tissue-like formations.

“In the human body, you have hormones that determine how your cells develop and how certain traits emerge. In the same way, by changing the hormone concentrations in the nutrient broth, the plant cells respond differently,” the study’s author Ashley Beckwith told MIT News. “Just by manipulating these tiny chemical quantities, we can elicit pretty dramatic changes in terms of the physical outcomes.”

The team was able to influence the zinnia cells to grow in a way that created a stiffer and denser final plant product. And by using a 3D bioprinter, scientists can grow this plant material in ways that aren’t found in nature, and do so without producing waste.

While these new findings are exciting and point to a future with less deforestation, some 3D-printing companies, like Forust, are already fighting back against logging by transforming wood waste into 3D-printing material that can be used to precisely print houses and furniture without producing more waste.

We may have a long way to go before deforestation is no longer a major threat to natural ecosystems, but 3D-printed wood is a promising start to building a greener future.

Federal Funding for Wood Product Manufacturing

As part of its goal of investing in rural America, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing today that $33.7 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will fund projects to strengthen the wood products economy and promote sustainable forest management. This investment supports a crucial link between resilient, healthy forests and strong rural economies and jobs in the forestry sector, especially in communities that depend on national forests and grasslands to grow and thrive.

“Healthy forests depend on a healthy forest products industry and as the nation faces an ongoing wildfire crisis, it is more important than ever to invest in sustainable forest management across all lands,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “These investments will reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, support existing jobs, and create new economic opportunities in tribal and economically disadvantaged communities.”

Forest restoration creates byproducts like small diameter timber and woody biomass, which has historically been of little market value. Thanks in part to USDA Forest Service investments in innovative wood products, this material which may have been discarded, can be made into many types of wood products.

For more information, click the link below: 

UNH Mass Timber Construction

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire are working to test and certify northern forest softwoods from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and New York for production of cross-laminated timber (CLT). "If all goes to plan, CLT made from local species sourced from our region should be available to builders in the third or fourth quarter of 2023," said Andrew Fast from UNH Cooperative Extension.

"It’s really exciting,” said Fast. “There is tremendous interest from the building community to use CLT made from local species. This project will strengthen the supply chain and allow forest product entrepreneurs to scale up as demand for this product increases in the region.”

“This project could be a catalyst for a significant new wood market in the region,” said Joe Short, vice president of the Northern Forest Center, which manages the Future Forest Economy Initiative. “If building designers respond by seeking this CLT made from regional wood, it could help accelerate investment in CLT manufacturing capacity in the region, opening a up a new market for wood and supporting more mass timber construction.”

Read more about the project by clicking the link below:

Climate Impacts on Future Forest Carbon Storage

A study from the University of Utah, finds that future climate impacts could restrict the ability of US forests to store carbon, with implications for carbon offset protocols. For this study, the researchers were interested in forecasting changes in the amount of aboveground carbon storage in forests of different regions in the United States using various models. New York and the Northeast looked pretty good and consistently showed carbon gains in future projections.

However, the results highlight that different climate and ecological models have different strengths and weaknesses, and considering them together reveals the areas of research needed to improve climate projections.

• Abstract available here: Uncertainty in US forest carbon storage potential due to climate risks 
• See also: Interactive map shows projections for carbon storage potential in the US under various scenarios.

Recording Available - New Forest Carbon and Climate Adaptation Webinar for Forest Landowners with Dr. Alexandra Kosiba 

Nearly 750 people registered for the April 12 webinar on Forest Carbon and Climate Adaptation for Forest Landowners. The recording and PowerPoint are now available here.

Alexandra (Ali) Kosiba, PhD, is a forest ecophysiologist and Extension Assistant Professor of Forestry at the University of Vermont. As the Extension Forester, she creates resources and conducts applied research to help woodland owners, foresters, and decision-makers better understand the impacts of climate change and other stressors on Vermont’s forests and management techniques to improve forest resilience. She is Vermont’s representative to the Securing Northeast Forest Carbon Program.  A licensed forester, Ali serves as a regional educator on forest carbon science and management and is the state lead on the Vermont Forest Carbon Inventory. She also works on various forest health topics, like planning and management for at-risk tree species, land planning for maintaining critical forest services, and forest monitoring. Before coming to UVM, she was the Climate Forester for the State of Vermont, Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation – and the first climate forester in the nation.

Understanding America’s Labor Shortage: The Most Impacted States

America is facing a worker shortage crisis: There are too many open jobs without people to fill them. Use the link below to access the interactive map, which shows which states are suffering the most from a labor shortage by comparing their Worker Shortage Index ratios. 

For New York State:

New York has 110 available workers for every 100 open jobs.

• New York's Worker Shortage Index: 1.10
• Job Openings: 452,000
• Unemployed Workers: 401,407
• Labor Force Participation Rate: 60.6%
• Quit Rate: 1.8%
• Hiring Rate: 3.2%

House Lawmakers Push “Resolution of Disapproval” to Rescind New NLEB Rule

On March 30, Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) introduced a “Resolution of Disapproval”  under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to rescind the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “endangered” listing of the Northern Long Eared Bat (NLEB) under the Endangered Species Act.  In late November 2022, the USFWS finalized a rule reclassifying the NLEB from “threatened,” to “endangered,” thereby triggering more red tape for harvesting permits.  Although the measure is likely to pass the House and may fare well in the Senate, it would require President Biden’s unlikely signature to cross the finish line.  Meanwhile, the USFWS is offering an Interim Consultation Framework, that will provide guidance through March 31, 2024, for projects taking place within the northern long-eared bat’s 37-state range.

ESFPA reported last week that operating as we have under the 4-d rule will work in New York.  We continue to work with DEC on state level guidance on how to proceed through next March.