U.S. Endowment Awards $5.5 Million To Accelerate Wood Fiber Markets 

The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities has announced five awards totaling $5.5 million through its Accelerating Wood Fiber Markets initiative. The five-year effort will help connect underutilized wood fiber with new buyers and support the long-term economic viability of working forests and the communities that rely on them.

The Endowment committed $5 million to the initiative, with an additional $500,000 provided by the Northern Border Regional Commission through its Forest Economy Initiative to support work in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.

The funding opportunity drew significant interest from across the country. The Endowment received 76 proposals requesting approximately $86 million, underscoring both the scale of the market challenges facing forest-reliant communities and the demand for practical, locally driven solutions.

The selected awardees are:

•  Forest Landowners Foundation, $1.3 million: The Forest Landowners Foundation will lead a Southeast-focused initiative to identify and advance scalable market solutions for underutilized and low-value wood. The organization will convene landowners, forest industry representatives, universities, investors and public agencies to develop a coordinated pipeline of market-ready opportunities, particularly in areas with limited processing infrastructure.

•  Sustainable Northwest and Intertribal Timber Council, $1.7 million: Sustainable Northwest and the Intertribal Timber Council will establish a Tribal-led initiative designed to build durable, community-driven markets for small-diameter timber, slash and low-grade logs. The partners will incubate a Wood and Biomass Hub within the Intertribal Timber Council to provide project development assistance, connections to financing, and workforce and infrastructure support, beginning with three Tribal communities.

• Northern Forest Center, $1.5 million: The Northern Forest Center will launch a regional venture serving Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Building on the Center’s experience in wood products business development and regional collaboration, the effort will strengthen the forest business and investment network and cultivate a more consistent pipeline of market opportunities for private, philanthropic and public investment.  • Siskiyou Economic Development Council, $500,000: The Siskiyou Economic Development Council will coordinate a regional network of forest industry partners to advance markets for small-diameter and underutilized wood. The work will include convening partners, assessing the commercial feasibility of processing sites, supporting capital readiness, and advancing opportunities in areas such as biochar, advanced composites and value-added manufacturing.  • Montana Cooperative Development Center, $500,000: The Montana Cooperative Development Center will lead a statewide effort to strengthen Montana’s forest products economy through market development, expanded use of wood fiber, business assistance and cross-sector collaboration. The initiative will align existing efforts, support emerging wood technologies and improve coordination across the state’s forest products sector.