Why It Matters: Improving the tax treatment of forest landowners following natural disasters is important for supporting the long-term viability of private working forests, which provide fish and wildlife habitat and places for sportsmen and women to hunt and fish. After a hurricane or other natural disaster, reforestation costs for landowners are significant. Providing tax relief for reforestation costs supports landowners in continuing to manage their forests as forests and helps reduce the risk of conversion to non-forest uses.
Highlights:
- Updating the tax treatment of reforestation costs for forest landowners after natural disasters is a priority for the forest industry and the sportsmen’s community to ensure that lands are reforested quickly and continue being managed as working forests.
- The Save America’s Family Forests Act recognizes the investments landowners make in managing their forestland by modernizing the tax code to provide tax relief quicker and to account for inflation.
- Sustainably managed private working forests support rural economies, wildlife habitat, and access for sportsmen and women.
On April 28, Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Members Representatives Buddy Carter, Greg Murphy, Greg Steube, and Mike Thompson and Representatives Terri Sewell, Aaron Bean, and Nathaniel Moran introduced the Save America’s Family Forests Act (H.R.8538) to modernize the tax treatment of reforestation costs for forest landowners after natural disasters. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) endorsed the bill along with forest industry partners. The Save America’s Family Forests Act will update the tax code to support keeping working forests as forests, which is crucial for wildlife habitat and access for sportsmen and women. Companion legislation is expected to be introduced by CSC Member Senator Bill Cassidy and Senator Ralph Warnock.
Specifically, the Save America’s Family Forests Act will permit forest landowners to deduct $30,000 for reforestation expenditures, which is a $20,000 increase in the deduction allowance. Additionally, the legislation creates an inflation adjustment for the reforestation expenditures deduction and allows landowners impacted by a qualified natural disaster (i.e., declared by the President) to deduct up to $500,000 in reforestation costs in the taxable year, instead of stretching costs over the next seven years. Reforestation expenditures include costs incurred to reforest by planting or artificial or natural seeding, including costs for site preparation, seeds or seedlings, and labor and tools. Collectively, these updates to the tax code will improve liquidity for forest landowners after natural disasters to help expedite reforestation.
CSF is thankful for the leadership of the bill sponsors on this important issue for private forest landowners and the sportsmen’s community. CSF looks forward to working with the House and Senate to advance the legislation in this Congress.