The wood products infrastructure assistance program supports facilities that purchase timber and forest byproducts primarily from united states federal or tribal forests

Sun Mountain Lumber, Inc. received a $975,076 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Northern Region, under the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act Financial Assistance to Facilities that Purchase and Process Byproducts for Ecosystem Restoration program (CFDA 10.725). The award, issued on August 20, 2025, with a completion deadline of June 30, 2027, supports the purchase and installation of wood processing equipment and upgrades to wood processing systems at the company's facility in Deer Lodge, Montana.

The funded activities enable Sun Mountain Lumber to expand its capacity to process timber and forest byproducts sourced from ecosystem restoration projects on federal and Tribal lands, with emphasis on areas designated as high or very high priority for restoration due to wildfire, insect, or disease risk. By enhancing processing infrastructure, this grant supports the program's dual objectives of decreasing vegetation removal costs on public lands through creation of commercially viable wood products and stimulating rural economic development through job creation and retention in the Northern Rocky Mountain region.

This includes applications to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve facilities that purchase and process byproducts from ecosystem restoration projects from federal or tribal lands in areas at risk of unnaturally severe wildfire or insect and disease. The emphasis is on areas of severe high fire or insect or disease infestation with high or very high priority for restoration. Activities to be funded include, but are not limited to, costs associated with the purchase and installation of wood processing equipment and wood processing system upgrades at wood products manufacturing facilities. The program stimulates rural economies, supports active forest management and creates and retains rural jobs.