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

Stillwater Post and Pole LLC received $578,071 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 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 August 13, 2025, with completion targeted for August 31, 2027, supports infrastructure improvements at the awardee's wood processing facility in Montana. The funding will be directed toward equipment purchases and system upgrades that enhance the facility's capacity to process timber and forest byproducts sourced primarily from ecosystem restoration projects on federal and tribal lands.

The CFDA 10.725 program supports wood products manufacturing facilities in areas designated as high or very high priority for ecological restoration due to wildfire, insect, or disease risk. By enabling facilities to process restoration byproducts, the program reduces vegetation removal costs on public lands while stimulating rural economic development and job creation. Stillwater Post and Pole LLC's historical supplier data demonstrates strong alignment with program objectives, with survey results indicating that 86 percent of raw material consumption over the 2018–2022 period was sourced from ecosystem restoration projects on federal or tribal lands, ranging from a low of 76 percent in 2018 to a high of 94 percent in 2022.

Federal or tribal forests. This includes 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. All of the raw material consumed is delivered to manufacturing plant as gatewood. Logging contractors and landowners bring raw material harvested from their lands and timber sale contracts that meets specifications to manufacturing plant. For the period 2018 to 2022, surveyed its suppliers to determine the percentage of the gatewood received that comes from ecosystem projects on federal or tribal lands. Seven key suppliers responded to the survey. The results show that percentages supplied from federal or tribal lands varied from a low of 76 percent in 2018 to a high of 94 precent in 2022. The overall average for the 5-year period was that 86 percent of the annual raw material consumption used was from ecosystem restoration projects on federal or tribal land.