Southern Foresters Welcome Long-Sought Passage of Key Disaster Recovery Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C.  | The Southern Group of State Foresters (SGSF) applauds Congress for passing the Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act, a long-sought measure that will strengthen disaster recovery for private forest landowners following hurricanes, wildfires, floods, tornadoes and other natural disasters. The legislation authorizes advance payments through the USDA’s Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP), allowing eligible landowners to receive a portion of their reforestation assistance upfront and providing the capital needed to begin restoration work without bearing the full cost before reimbursement. In the wake of catastrophic losses, many landowners simply cannot absorb those losses and finance reforestation costs out of pocket. Access to upfront assistance helps ensure damaged forests are restored rather than left unrecovered, preserving the clean water, wildlife habitat, wood products, and other benefits forests provide.

SGSF extends special thanks to Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.), who championed the House bill and helped advance this important improvement for American forest landowners.

“For landowners across the American South, the impacts of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and ice storms can be catastrophic,” said Tim Foley, SGSF Interim Executive Director. “With few other safety net programs available, forest landowners need EFRP to work as efficiently as possible to ensure their continued stewardship of healthy southern forests. We thank Congress for making this simple but critical improvement.”

SGSF has long advocated for modernization and streamlining of EFRP and appreciates the responsiveness of Congress, the USDA Farm Service Agency and the USDA Forest Service in advancing improvements that will help ensure timely assistance reaches landowners following disasters. Looking forward, SGSF encourages Congress to advance disaster supplemental legislation addressing recent disasters across the South and the nation and to ensure sufficient funding is available through EFRP to meet landowner recovery needs.

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