Federal grant awards to support bioenergy, wood product ventures
REAL ESTATE
A bioenergy firm in California and a forest products venture in California and Nevada have been awarded funding under a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to expand innovative uses of wood. USDA this month said it is investing more than $43 million to enhance use of wood in commer- cial buildings, as energy sources and in manu- facturing and processing for products used in framing homes or making paper products. The funds are being invested in 123 projects nationwide through Community Wood and Wood Innovations, longstanding U.S. Forest Service grant programs that promote innova- tion in wood products and renewable wood energy economies. One of the funded proposals under the Community Wood grant program includes $1.2 million to commission a 3-megawatt thermally led wood energy facility operated by Hat Creek Bioenergy in Burney, California. This facility will provide renewable, biomass-based energy to the community and contribute to a diversified energy mix. Another funded proposal under the Wood Innovations grant program includes more than $300,000 for Tahoe Forest Products, based in Carson City, Nevada. Tahoe Forest Products oper- ates a sawmill alongside the Washoe Development Corporation, an affiliate of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, to reduce fuels on public and private land by milling logs commercially. Tahoe Forest Products supports work to salvage and clean up areas impacted by wildfires by offer- ing a convenient location to deliver salvaged timber while supporting local employment opportunities, including for tribal members. Since 2015, the Wood Innovations and Community Wood grant programs have pro- vided more than $93 million to 381 recipients to support wood products and wood energy
projects, USDA reported. In a statement, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the effort is intended to expand mar- kets for wood products while supporting forestry practices to curb fire dangers. “By building more sustainably, we are able to address the ongoing wildfire crisis and lower risks to our communities, while also creating new mar- kets for the excess and hazardous wood we need to remove from our fire-prone western landscapes and creating jobs and wealth in rural communities along the way,” Vilsack said. USDA said funded proposals under grant pro- grams expand and retrofit wood energy systems and wood products manufacturing facilities and develop markets for innovative uses of mass tim- ber and renewable wood energy. It said projects also help to restore healthy for- ests and reduce wildfire risk, protecting com- munities, infrastructure and resources while curbing climate change. Grant recipients include for-profit entities, state and local governments, tribes, school dis- tricts, community-based nonprofit organiza- tions, institutions of higher education and special purpose districts. The announced funding supports the Forest Service’s 10-year strategy to address the wildfire crisis in places where it poses the most immediate threats to communities. The Forest Service said healthy, resilient forests depend on a healthy forest products economy. It said it is investing in projects that source wood from activities that reduce risks to communities, such as fuels treatments and mechanical thinning. For more information on projects funded un- der the Wood Innovations and Community Wood grant programs, visit www.fs.usda.gov/science- technology/energy-forest-products/wood- innovation/grants.
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USDA takes aim at animal welfare claims in meat and poultry labels
Safety and Inspection Service before they can be included on the labels of meat and poultry prod- ucts sold to consumers. USDA most recently updated its guideline on these claims in 2019. It said it received numerous pe- titions requesting updates to oversight procedures. Now the agency is partnering with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in a sampling proj- ect to assess antibiotic residues in cattle destined for the “raised without antibiotics” market. USDA said the project results will help inform whether it should require that laboratory test- ing results be submitted for the “raised without antibiotics” claim or start a new verification sampling program. USDA said it also will be issuing a revised in- dustry guideline to recommend that companies strengthen the documentation they submit to the department to substantiate animal-raising claims. USDA said it plans to strongly encour- age use of third-party certification to verify these claims. June 21, 2023 Ag Alert 23
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it is tak- ing a multi-step effort aimed at strengthening the substantiation of animal-raising claims. The action, announced last week, is intended to build on the work USDA has undertaken to protect consumers from false and misleading labels. “Consumers should be able to trust that the la- bel claims they see on products bearing the USDA mark of inspection are truthful and accurate,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “USDA is taking action today to ensure the integrity of animal-raising claims and level the playing field for producers who are truthfully using these claims, which we know consumers value and rely on to guide their meat and poultry purchasing decisions.” Animal-raising claims such as “grass-fed” and “free-range” are voluntary marketing statements that highlight certain aspects of how the source animals for meat and poultry products are raised, USDA said. The claims must be approved by the USDA Food
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