Georgia seeks to bolster timber industry in Hurricane Helene’s aftermath

For Jake Matthews, vice president of government affairs at the Georgia Forestry Association, the help is needed to sustain and grow the state’s forestry industry at a time that timber use expected to decline. The downturn is in part due to the rising cost of construction materials and the decline in housing construction.

“Overall, we’ve seen a decrease in wood use,” Matthews said. “We’ve seen a decrease, especially in our pulp and paper markets. And if there are no markets, there’s nowhere for a landowner to take their wood. There is no incentive to actually grow trees.”

The timber industry has long had political clout at the state Capitol.

Since the November election, the Georgia Forestry Association’s political action committee has contributed at least $31,000 towards upcoming elections and leadership committees. Of donations sent directly to legislators, more than two-thirds went to Republican members.

Two measures — Senate Bill 52 and House Bill 223 — each passed their respective chambers on Tuesday.

SB 52 would temporarily suspend a tax on harvested timber from the last quarter of 2024 through the end of 2025 for the 66 counties covered under a federal emergency declaration. The state would compensate the counties for their loss in tax revenue through grants that would be assessed based on the market value of the timber of the prior three years since Helene.

Those grants would likely provide local governments across South Georgia with more revenue than they would have received from timber taxes if SB 52 did not pass.

“As of November, the estimated losses to standing timber caused by Hurricane Helene were nearly $1.3 billion,” said Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in a statement. “Reducing costs and stabilizing the market to allow for quicker harvesting and recovery of lands where some timber is still salvageable is a priority for the Senate.

HB 223 is similar to legislation passed after Hurricane Michael in 2018. The bill calls for giving timberland owners affected by Helene up to $400 of credit per acre of property losses. It would also require those timberland owners to replace at least 90% of the lost trees. Additionally, it would exempt disaster relief from taxable income, and suspend the sales tax on construction materials used to repair farm structures, such as chicken houses.

“For our part of the country, it is a huge industry,” said Rep. James Burchett, R-Waycross, who carried the Gov. Brian Kemp-backed bill. “Many people make their living off of foresting. Many people make their living off of timber, and we want to continue that down in our part of the country.”

Before the unanimous approval, Rep. Jasmine Clark, D-Lilburn, said she was concerned that the measures were too focused on the timber industry and not enough on everyday Georgians.

“This seems to be very specific for one industry,” Clark said. “Is there any contemplation about helping those Georgians down in that area?”

Burchett said there’s other legislation that would be “vitally” important to timber in the aftermath of Helene, such as permanently changing the higher maximum truck weight allowed on Georgia highways to 88,000 pounds.

It’s an issue that sparked a contentious debate in the Legislature two years ago.

Back then, the Georgia Forestry Association and other interest groups pushed for the higher weights. They said it would allow businesses to ship their goods more efficiently and save money. Georgia’s Department of Transportation and local governments said heavier trucks would cost taxpayers billions in road maintenance and lead to more traffic fatalities.

In a last-minute compromise, lawmakers raised the maximum truck weight for two years. That two years is set to expire on July 1.

Here are some of the other timber-related measures lawmakers are considering this session:

— AJC data reporter Phoebe Quinton contributed to this report.