NEWS

After the passage of the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) in July, the American Hardwood Export Council and Sustainable Hardwood Coalition (SHC) are now focused on helping U.S. hardwood suppliers meet those stringent requirements. These include geolocation to the specific "plot(s) of land" where harvesting takes place, legal harvesting, and zero risk of deforestation in accordance with the EUDR's narrow definitions.

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DHA and our allies are pushing Congress to extend key tax regulations that support investment and innovation by protecting businesses' right to immediately deduct R&D expenses, enabling businesses to invest in growth and job creation by deducting interest payments, and encouraging investment by permitting the full deduction of capital equipment purchases.

A bipartisan bill, the Promoting Effective Forest Management Act of 2023, has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. The bill directs the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to establish yearly acreage targets for mechanical thinning and address the shortages that plague the logging workforce, and mandates a scientific basis for changes in definitions of old-growth and mature forests.

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In the National Kitchen & Bath Association 2024 Kitchen Trends Report, designers, architects, and remodelers showed a clear preference for wood cabinets. After years of white cabinetry, wood is making a comeback. When surveyed about the most popular kitchen color trends, 28% chose wood, outpacing the 25% who chose "white."

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DHA sponsored the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's life-cycle assessment of prefinished engineered wood flooring in the eastern U.S. Last week, the laboratory published the results. In a win for our industry and the environment, the assessment states, "This study showed that engineered wood flooring can be considered a carbon-negative material that stores carbon (22.85 kg CO₂eq/m² flooring) for decades and thus can help to mitigate climate change."