A bipartisan group of lawmakers from Oregon, Mississippi, California, Washington, Wisconsin and Ohio has introduced federal legislation designed to create new economic uses for woody material removed during forest management projects, a proposal supporters say could strengthen wildfire prevention efforts while expanding renewable fuel production.
Introduced Wednesday in Congress, the Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act of 2026 would amend federal law by broadening the definition of eligible renewable biomass under the Renewable Fuel Standard. If enacted, the measure would allow additional low value woody materials generated through hazardous fuels reduction, ecological restoration, forest management projects and forest products manufacturing to qualify for renewable fuel production.
The legislation is being led by U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz of Oregon and Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi in the House, alongside U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi in the Senate. The proposal has attracted bipartisan support from lawmakers representing both heavily forested Western states and timber producing regions in the Southeast.
For Oregon, where millions of acres of public and private forestland face increasing wildfire threats each summer, the proposal could have direct implications for forest restoration projects, rural employment and wildfire preparedness. Southern Oregon communities, including those throughout Josephine, Jackson, Douglas, Klamath and Curry counties, have experienced repeated years of destructive wildfires, smoke impacts, evacuation orders and rising suppression costs. Forest managers have long identified excessive accumulations of small diameter trees, brush and logging residue as significant contributors to extreme fire behavior.
Current federal renewable fuel policies recognize certain forms of biomass, but supporters of the legislation argue existing definitions exclude many of the woody materials routinely removed during fuel reduction projects. As a result, much of that material has little commercial value and is often left on the landscape or disposed of through open burning because transportation and processing costs exceed its market value.
Congressman Bentz said Oregon’s forests produce enormous amounts of new growth every year, increasing the amount of combustible vegetation available during wildfire season. He said creating financial incentives to remove excess vegetation would help reduce wildfire danger while supporting conversion of forest biomass into renewable fuel. According to Bentz, the legislation would direct existing financial support systems toward the removal, transportation and processing of qualifying woody material taken from federal forestlands, reducing suppression costs while improving forest health and protecting watersheds.
Representative Thompson said the proposal recognizes the connection between healthy forests and rural economies. He said creating additional markets for woody biomass generated through responsible forest management would reduce wildfire risk, support rural employment opportunities and expand the nation’s renewable fuel supply.
Senator Merkley said reducing wildfire danger requires investment in multiple prevention strategies. He noted that woody biomass produced during hazardous fuels reduction and responsible forest management represents an opportunity to reduce wildfire hazards while creating new commercial markets that could benefit public, private and Tribal lands across Oregon and other states.
Although much of the legislation addresses wildfire concerns in the West, Senator Hyde-Smith said the measure would also expand renewable fuel opportunities for forest products generated on nonfederal lands in heavily forested states throughout the South by recognizing logging residuals, thinning materials and mill byproducts already produced during normal forest operations.
For Southern Oregon, where federal forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management surround many rural communities, the legislation could affect future restoration projects intended to reduce hazardous fuel loads near populated areas. Communities located within the wildland urban interface have increasingly become priorities for thinning projects designed to slow wildfire spread and improve firefighter access.
The proposed legislation would allow additional woody materials to qualify for renewable biomass, including slash left after timber harvests, storm debris, precommercial thinning material, fuel reduction byproducts, ecological restoration materials, sawdust, wood chips, bark, paper residuals, shavings and other manufacturing byproducts. Vegetation removed during defensible space projects surrounding homes and communities would also become eligible under the revised definition.
The bill would establish a certification process for qualifying materials originating from private, Tribal and federal lands while clarifying that existing forest management plans would not require amendment solely because biomass may ultimately be used for renewable fuel production.
Supporters contend the proposal could encourage additional private investment in biomass processing facilities by increasing the volume of qualifying material available under the Renewable Fuel Standard. They argue stronger markets for low value wood products would improve the economic feasibility of forest restoration projects that currently face high transportation and disposal costs.
The legislation has received endorsements from numerous forestry, logging and forest landowner organizations, including the American Forest Resource Council, Forest Landowners Association, Associated Oregon Loggers and the National Alliance of Forest Owners. Supporters maintain that expanding commercial markets for low value forest materials could help sustain rural mills, logging contractors and forest restoration crews while increasing the pace of hazardous fuels reduction projects.
More than 80 organizations nationwide have expressed support for the legislation, according to its sponsors.
The Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act now begins the congressional legislative process, where it will be assigned to committee review before lawmakers consider whether to advance the measure for votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate. If approved by Congress and signed into law, the changes would modify federal renewable fuel eligibility standards governing how qualifying woody biomass may be used in renewable energy production.