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Photo image: lumber transport. Photo credit: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). Photo image: paper worker. Photo credit: PACE International Union Communications Department.
Photo image: forest scene. Photo credit: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW).
Fact Sheets

The Reforestation Tax Act

Our forests are a renewable resource. Unlike other growth and harvest cycles in the agricultural industry, 20 years is considered a short period of time. The Reforestation Tax Act, if enacted into law, would have a long-term, positive impact on our forests, a national treasure.

Legislation has been introduced by Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), S.1002 and Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R-WA), H.R.1581.

Previous legislative modifications to the IRS code discourage continued forestation, and have placed the forest products industry at an economic disadvantage in the global environment. The Reforestation Tax Act (RTA) would remedy these disadvantages.

In order to sustain this renewable resource, government must take a proactive role to ensure responsible forest management. There are several factors that concern the forest products community – most importantly, jobs and the environment. The RTA encourages long-term growth of our forests, responsible harvesting and re-forestation. All of these goals will be attained if this legislation becomes law and concurrently will result in improving the industry's competitive edge in the global environment.

The RTA provision allows all reforestation expenses to be amortized over a seven-year period and would increase the amount of reforestation expenses that qualify for a 10 percent tax credit under current law. The cost of the provision is $104 million over five years and $277 million over 10 years.

The RTA is Critical for the Forest Products Community

  • The forest products industry is responsible for about 1.5 million jobs, many of which are associated with the planting and harvesting sector of the industry. Many of these jobs are in rural areas where jobs are scarce.
  • The previous administration announced regulations to designate another 50 million acres of public timberland off limits for access. This means fiber shortages unless more timber can be grown on private lands. The current tax law discourages replanting.
  • The forest products industry has seen a significant amount of downsizing in recent years. Because most of the jobs in this industry are in rural areas, there are frequently no new jobs for these "downsized" employees other than low or minimum wage jobs. It is critical that the industry's competitive position improves or there will be less high-skill, living-wage jobs in the future.
  • This change in the tax code has the support of all elements of the forest products community, including its unions, large and small landowners and environmental groups.

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