U.S. Senator Katie Britt Reintroduces Legislation Supporting Forest Landowners Following Natural Disasters

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and several of their Senate colleagues reintroduced bipartisan legislation to help America’s landowners recover from the loss of timber after natural disasters. 

“The Disaster Reforestation Act would give landowners the resources and relief to recover from the devasting impacts of natural disasters. Ultimately, our legislation allows foresters to leave their land better for their children and their grandchildren. I’m proud to join my colleagues in this effort to provide support to Alabama’s hardworking forest owners and our entire forestry community,” said Senator Britt.

The Disaster Reforestation Act amends and makes improvements to the tax code to allow forest owners to deduct the value of their timber prior to the loss caused by a natural disaster.

Alabama is home to over 23 million forestland acres, the third most in the continental United States. Forestry contributes to over 111,000 jobs in our state, leading to a total economic output of about $27.7 billion. Additionally, 93% of Alabama’s forest are privately owned, and the state continues to add 2-2.5% of tree volume year over year.

“Louisianans know too well the importance of natural disaster relief,” said Dr. Cassidy. “When their lives and communities are torn apart by storms, they need a tax fix like this.”

Previous disaster relief policies and programs provide much-needed relief for agriculture crops and farmers, however, they do not provide any economic relief for farmers whose timber crops were destroyed. The Disaster Reforestation Act allows landowners to deduct the full value of timber destroyed during disaster events in the same way the tax code treats other crops. The full text of the bill can be viewed here.

“Our rural communities need all the help they can get after a disaster like Hurricane Helene devastates farmland and forests. The bipartisan Disaster Reforestation Act will help lessen the burden on forest owners during a recovery process following a natural disaster,” said Senator Warnock. “The forestry industry is central to Georgia’s economy and ecology, and I’m happy to work alongside Senator Cassidy in this.”

Supporting Alabama’s incredible foresters is a top priority for Senator Britt. Recently, she was proud to attend U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin’s announcement that the EPA will review the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Senator Britt has long fought the Biden Administration’s overreaching, ambiguous, and job-killing WOTUS rule, saying in a 2023 Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, “The uncertainty of Biden’s WOTUS rule has created and continues to create an unsustainable state of shifting permitting in this country. The cost is hundreds of thousands of dollars for Americans to comply with ever-changing regulations. Alabamians shouldn’t need to pay a lawyer to find out if a ditch on their land is now federally regulated.”

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