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I joined the Hardwood Federation and about 60 other members for their annual Capitol Hill Fly-in on May 22 and May 23. Like last year, it was a great experience meeting with our elected representatives in the Senate and House to discuss our policy priorities including the Farm Bill, Jobs in the Woods Act, Hardwood Products Access and Development Act, and tax policy.

I loved seeing everyone last week at DHA’s annual meeting in Scottsdale. We had several new and many returning members and covered a wide range of topics key to our industry including the economy, policy, trade, and the EU Deforestation Regulation. Save the date for our next annual meeting: May 13–15, 2025, in San Antonio.

DHA recently joined allies in pushing for a 24-month delay of the new EU Deforestation Regulation. EUDR is widely seen as unworkable for the European forest products industry as well as for small U.S. forest owners. U.S. forests are arguably the most sustainably managed in the world. EU analysis supports that. However, the inflexible EUDR will create an extreme challenge for the U.S. forest products industry if not delayed.

Decorative Hardwoods Association members have told us that our standards provide critical value to their companies. We're happy to report that the revision process for our American National Standard for Hardwood and Decorative Plywood (ANSI/HPVA HP-1-2020) is nearing completion and the revised standard is available for comment. Our thanks to our members and the many others who participated in the revision process.

In our last newsletter, I started by stating that "the Biden administration continued its regulatory onslaught on March 15 with EPA's release of a new formaldehyde risk evaluation." This rush to finalize regulations before the election appears to be a trend and a high priority. Stories featured below include new heavy truck regulations that mandate 30% zero-emission trucks in just eight years. Can you imagine electric logging trucks?