NWTF Supports the Disaster Reforestation Act of 2025
The National Wild Turkey Federation supports the Disaster Reforestation Act, a vital new piece of legislation introduced by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA). This bipartisan bill seeks to provide essential tax relief for private forest landowners who face catastrophic losses due to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and floods.
Unlike other agricultural commodities, timber is currently ineligible for disaster relief tools such as crop insurance or safety net programs. Moreover, the tax code fails to recognize the true value of timber lost in natural disasters, leaving private forest landowners without financial support in times of disaster. These inequities can devastate families and communities that depend on healthy, thriving forests to support their livelihoods, economies and local ecosystems.
The Disaster Reforestation Act seeks to correct this gap by allowing family forest landowners to deduct the true value of their lost timber, ensuring that they have the resources they need to recover, reforest, and continue managing America’s vital forestlands. With private forests playing a crucial role in the nation’s economy, environment and rural communities, the bill will help secure multi-generational family forestry businesses and the multiple benefits they provide to society. This includes everything from clean air and water to stable wildlife habitats, including wild turkey habitat.
The NWTF strongly believes that this legislation is a crucial step toward conserving the nation’s forests and ensuring that landowners have the tools they need to recover after disaster strikes.
“When a private forest owner suffers a disaster, like a tornado, hurricane, flood or fire, they have limited options to make themselves whole,” said NWTF co-CEO Kurt Dyroff. “Even after such hardship, the Disaster Reforestation Act ensures that forest owners will be able to continue to manage their forests in ways that provide the full suite of benefits to people and wildlife.”
By passing this critical legislation, the NWTF believes Congress will help protect the future of America’s working forests, ensuring that they continue to provide economic, recreational and wildlife benefits that all Americans rely on.