USDA begins issuing final pandemic payments for timber harvesters

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin issuing final pandemic assistance payments to timber harvesters and timber hauling businesses through the Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers (PATHH) program starting next week.

In total, $200 million will be provided to loggers and log trucking businesses who experienced a gross revenue loss of at least 10% during the period of Jan. 1 through Dec. 1, 2020, compared to the period of Jan. 1 through Dec. 1, 2019. This support is part of USDA’s broader Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative.

“We know loggers and truckers felt the financial burden of the pandemic,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “This included lack of access to wood processing mills, which caused major disruptions to the logging industry. We made initial payments as we enrolled customers in PATHH and are happy to now finalize payments to provide this much needed assistance.”

“We are grateful for the partnerships with other USDA agencies to recognize the tremendous need and to mobilize quickly to assist loggers and log truckers adversely impacted by the pandemic,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “The American Loggers Council, Intertribal Timber Council, National Association of State Foresters, and Forest Resources Association were critical to helping us better understand the impacts and tailor a program that best serves these two sectors that are critical to forest management across the country.”

Eligible PATHH applicants must have derived at least 50 percent of total gross revenue from timber harvesting and/or timber hauling. Specifically, eligible activities included cutting timber, transporting timber and/or the processing of wood on-site on the forest land, such as chipping, grinding, converting to biochar or cutting to smaller lengths.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, authorized up to $200 million for PATHH. FSA issued initial payments up to $2,000 as applications were approved. Now that signup has ended and FSA has evaluated remaining funds, FSA has started to issue second payments to those applicants whose calculated payment amount was over $2,000.

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