Press Releases

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 use of more sustainable packaging, and boost innovative wood products. Approximately $41 million of the total funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the historic Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Biden. 

“Federal grant programs that support innovative and sustainable uses for wood are instrumental in helping Maine loggers and forest product producers adapt to ever-changing industries, climate, and markets,” said Pingree. “From bringing production back to the Jay area to furthering sustainable innovations in packaging and wood products, these federal grants for Maine support rural economies while investing in forward-thinking, sustainable practices.”

The grants for Maine include:

• $999,998 from the Community Wood Grant Program for Treeline’s Penobscot River Thermally Modified Wood Treatment Facility
• $300,000 from the Wood Innovations Grant Program for Godfrey Forest Products LLC to help restart wood products production at their new oriented strand board (OSB) mill in Jay, Maine
• $300,000 from the Wood Innovations Grant Program for Tanbark to help expand capabilities to replace plastic packaging with Type 3 molded wood fiber

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting innovation in the wood products and wood energy economies, which are at the heart of so many small towns, especially in Tribal and rural communities,” said USDA Deputy Secretary Torres Small. “These investments will support good paying jobs for families and communities. It will increase the economy’s capacity to manufacture wood products. In turn, sustainably sourcing the wood used to manufacture these products will make our forests healthier and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires.”

Pingree is Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which oversees funding for the U.S. Forest Service. Last week, Pingree and Maine’s Congressional Delegation introduced the bicameral, bipartisan Loggers Economic Assistance and Relief Act, which would establish a new USDA program to support loggers who have lost income due to natural disasters. 

Pingree, alongside Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), reintroduced the bipartisan Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act to strengthen the Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Grant Program and modernizes and increases the federal share of project costs for the Wood Innovations Grant Program. 

###