Bipartisan senators look to boost forest product research

The legislation would create a technology transfer office at the Forest Service.
A bipartisan group of senators is proposing legislation to put more of the Forest Service’s research on wood products into commercial use — and possibly reduce wildfire risks at the same time.
Four lawmakers introduced the “Forest Bioeconomy Act,” which would create an office at the Forest Service devoted to connecting the agency’s research arm and private industry to find new uses for low-value material thinned from forests.
The new Office of Technology Transfer, operating on as much as $5 million a year, would be modeled after similar efforts at other federal agencies such as the Department of Energy. Forest Service research would be commercialized and patented and, if successful, would create revenue for the federal government.
Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) are the bill’s chief sponsors.
“By expanding technology transfer at the Forest Service and turning small-diameter trees into marketable wood products, we can create new revenue streams, scale up fuels reduction, and accelerate the work needed to reduce wildfire risk,” Heinrich, ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a news release.
Justice called the bill “a win for the economy, environment and for our people.”
The bill’s sponsors said it would help the Forest Service boost a relatively small research and patent operation that pales in comparison to what DOE, for instance, accomplishes.
DOE has more than 40,000 patents and 1,400 active licenses, while the Forest Service has 42 patents and eight active licenses, according to Heinrich’s office.
A closer connection between Forest Service research and the wood products industry could promote more profitable use of small-diameter trees and similar material that comes out of forest management projects, the bills’ sponsors said.
In some places, such as New Mexico, the majority of material generated by such projects — which reduce potential wildfire fuel — is of limited or little commercial value but could be used for energy production or other purposes being studied, the bills’ sponsors said.
Otherwise, Heinrich’s office said, much of the wood taken out of New Mexico’s forests becomes firewood.
The bill would also authorize up to $4 million annually for research on mass timber, which uses multilayered wood panels in construction of buildings.