The wood innovations grant program supports projects that will substantially expand and accelerate wood products markets, wood energy markets, and wood manufacturing facilities throughout the united…

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region awarded $400,000 to the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources on December 17, 2025, under the Wood Utilization Assistance program (CFDA 10.674) to support wood products market expansion and forest management activities in Hawaii through January 31, 2028.

The Wood Innovations Grant Program funds projects that expand wood products and wood energy markets to support active forest management and wildfire fuels reduction. Eligible activities include purchase and installation of wood processing equipment, wood energy system or wood manufacturing facility design and engineering, and deliverables that overcome barriers to domestic timber market growth. The program stimulates rural economies, supports active forest management, and creates and retains rural jobs, with national focus areas including mass timber, wood energy, and technological development that supports hazardous fuel reduction and sustainable forest management.

The State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources is the principal state entity managing Hawaii's forests, watersheds, and recreational lands. The agency's Division of Forestry and Wildlife and Division of Aquatic Resources deliver landscape-scale forest health, endangered species recovery, and watershed protection work across the Hawaiian islands, often in partnership with the University of Hawaii system, The Nature Conservancy, watershed partnerships, and federal land managers including the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges.

The wood innovations grant program supports projects that will substantially expand and accelerate wood products markets, wood energy markets, and wood manufacturing facilities throughout the united states to support active forest management on national forest system and other forest lands. National focus areas include mass timber, wood energy, and technological development that supports active forest management and wildfire fuels reduction. Activities to be funded include, but are not limited to, costs associated with the purchase and installation of wood processing equipment, wood energy system or wood manufacturing facility design and/or engineering, and deliverables to overcome key hurdles to domestic timber market growth. The program stimulates rural economies, supports active forest management and creates and retains rural jobs.