The Hardwood Federation and the American Forest Foundation want the Obama Administration to broaden the scope of the federal BioPreferred program to include "the majority of hardwood products," according to the federation's Executive Director Deb Hawkinson.
The Hardwood Federation and the American Forest Foundation want the Obama Administration to broaden the scope of the federal BioPreferred program to include "the majority of hardwood products," according to the federation's Executive Director Deb Hawkinson.
"In concept, yes, we support the use of bio-based products," Hawkinson said, "but the program the President is supporting … actually does not include the majority of hardwood products …"
President Obama outlined the program in an executive memo on Feb. 21. The program is "intended to increase Federal procurement of biobased products to promote rural economic development, create new jobs, and provide new markets for farm commodities"; the memo makes no mention of wood or forests.
However, it does call for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase the number of product categories in the program by about 30 within the next year. Currently, wood floor cleaners and protectors, sealers and strippers are covered in the program. Proposed category additions include non-carpet floor coverings including hardwood and bamboo, as well as concrete stains.
At stake, according to the two forestry-related groups, are thousands of American jobs. The Hardwood Federation, a lobbying group of which the NWFA is a part, said North Carolina, Indiana, Oregon and Pennsylvania have lost the most mill jobs as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.
"Now is the time for the administration and congress to recognize the jobs and economic loss our rural communities have suffered and take steps to ensure that American-made forest products aren't disadvantaged by biobased procurement requirements," Hawkinson said.
"We applaud the administration's efforts to increase the use of agriculture products and jobs in rural communities, but we need a guarantee that this effort will include forest products," American Forest Foundation President and CEO Tom Martin said.