Exclusive: USDA distributing loans to Oregon, Nevada sawmills to expand timber production

By Morgan Sweeney
The Center Square

Sawmills in Oregon and Nevada will be receiving $80 million in federally guaranteed loans to increase American timber production, the Department of Agriculture shared exclusively with The Center Square Thursday.

The loans are part of a Trump administration initiative to increase domestic timber production by 25%, reduce wildfire risk, and reduce American dependence on other nations for lumber products.

Tahoe Forest Products of Carson City, Nev., in partnership with MapleMark Bank, is set to receive $50 million to expand its processing capabilities, shifting from purely rough lumber production to finished lumber that can be sold to retailers and large-scale construction markets.

Clatskanie Scion, in partnership with First Interstate Bank, has been awarded $30 million to “to expand operations for Myers Woodline to manufacture industrial lumber products” and “bolster the region’s timber industry.”

“This investment in the Timber Production Expansion Partnership program demonstrates an important step towards strengthening America’s wood products infrastructure, and rural economies,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz in a statement. “This supports Forest Service’s ability to actively manage the land, reduce the risk of wildfire, and ensure wood products from our national forests support rural communities.”

In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at the “immediate” expansion of American timber production, part of a bevy of orders intended to reduce dependence on foreign industries and products and increase American domestic manufacturing.

The order said that the U.S. could meet its own timber production needs, but federal policies had gotten in the way.

“The United States has an abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs, but heavy-handed federal policies have prevented full utilization of these resources and made us reliant on foreign producers,” the order reads. “It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security.”

Expanding the American timber industry could contribute to lower construction and energy costs, according to the administration. The USDA has invested $165.2 million in the states of California, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin through TPEP.