Forests and Wood Innovations

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today announced $1.6 million in federal Wood Innovations and Community Wood Grant Program funding for Maine. Announced as part of a $74 million investment for 171 projectsnationwide by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service, funding for three projects in Maine will help bring production back to the Jay Mill, expand the… Read more »

In a House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee budget hearing for the U.S. Forest Service today, Ranking Member Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) called attention to the severe storms Maine has endured in recent months, which have impacted local economies, infrastructure, and forests.  “Maine’s logging industry suffered more than $2.6… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today welcomed news from the Biden-Harris Administration that Maine will be home to one of the nation’s first Tech Hubs. The Forest Bioproducts Advanced Manufacturing Tech Hub, led by the Maine Technology Institute, was designated as one of 31 Tech Hubs in regions across the country, authorized by the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act.… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Congressman William Timmons (R-S.C.) today introduced the Rural Forest Markets Act, bipartisan legislation to help small-scale, family forest owners and states forestry agencies access new economic opportunities and develop solutions to mitigate the climate crisis.  “The extreme heat, wildfires, and weather events the country has… Read more »

U.S. Senator Angus King and Representative Chellie Pingree are calling on the Biden administration to stop illegal wood imports that harm Maine’s forest products industry. In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack, the Maine lawmakers highlight the importance of taking on the illegal wood trade, call attention to the slow enforcement of existing laws, and urge rapid… Read more »

U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing up to $385 million in nine projects that will benefit Maine’s forest products and agriculture industries while helping to combat climate change. The grants, which were awarded under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart… Read more »

WASHINGTON —Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) led seven of their colleagues, including Senator Angus King (I-ME) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01), to press House and Senate appropriators to include additional funding for the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Haulers and Harvesters (PATHH) Program in upcoming government funding legislation. The PATHH… Read more »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King and Representative Chellie Pingree today announced that the University of Maine-Forest Opportunity Roadmap/Maine (FOR/Maine) Coalition and Northeastern University’s Coalition – which includes the Maine-based Roux Institute and FocusMaine – are finalists and in the running for the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s… Read more »

WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Annie Kuster (D-New Hampshire) today introduced the bicameral Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act, legislation to bolster the United States Forest Service (USFS)’s popular Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Grant Program (CWEWIP), which is currently oversubscribed. The bill would double CWEWIP funds… Read more »