Our Common Message Is Simple: Use Hardwood

The hardwood industry plays a critical role in the health of our forests, our rural communities, and our broader economy. Without consistent hardwood lumber consumption, the impacts extend far beyond our industry—they affect how forests are managed, how communities sustain themselves, and how materials move through our infrastructure.

When markets for American hardwood are strong, forests are actively managed, landowners have an incentive to maintain them, and communities built around forestry remain viable. When those markets weaken, the consequences begin to show.

I’ve seen this firsthand.

In Vanderhoof, British Columbia, the mountain pine beetle devastated vast areas of forest, leading to widespread loss and increased fire risk. In Hill Spring, Alberta, as industry declined, so did the community—local businesses closed, jobs disappeared, and the ripple effects were felt far beyond the mill.

These examples are not isolated. They illustrate a broader reality: healthy forests and strong markets are connected.

When hardwood has value, forests are more likely to remain forests. Landowners can justify long-term stewardship rather than converting land to other uses. Active forest management also helps reduce risk, improve resilience, and support sustainable ecosystems over time.

This connection extends into our infrastructure as well. Hardwood plays an essential role in products we often take for granted—railroad ties, pallets, packaging, and other foundational components of how goods move across the country. These are not easily replaced at scale without increased cost or environmental tradeoffs.

So, this is not just a hardwood industry issue. It’s an issue of supply chain stability, environmental stewardship, and economic sustainability.

A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

Helping people understand the importance of hardwood is not the job of one person, company, or organization. It is a shared responsibility across the entire industry.

We can talk about hardwood in abstract terms, or we can ground it in something more tangible.

The math is straightforward.

• Wood is approximately 50% carbon. The more wood we use, the more carbon we store in our homes, buildings, and products.

• Forests are dynamic systems. Trees grow, mature, and eventually decline. Active markets allow landowners to manage that cycle responsibly.

• Working forests require economic return. Landowners must cover taxes and management costs, and that income comes from selling timber.

• Markets support management. Without demand for logs—especially lower-grade material—it becomes difficult to maintain healthy forests at scale.

  
  

Every part of the system is connected.

CONNECTING PEOPLE BACK TO HARDWOOD

At its core, this is about reconnecting people to a material that is both practical and essential. Hardwood is not just a product—it is part of a larger system that supports:

• Sustainable forest management

• Rural economies

• Domestic supply chains

• Long-term carbon storage

But those connections are not always visible to the people making purchasing decisions.

That’s where we come in.

A CLEAR MESSAGE MOVING FORWARD

The opportunity in front of us is not complicated, but it does require consistency.

We need to tell the hardwood story—clearly, confidently, and often.

Not just within our industry, but to the people who influence demand:

• Builders

• Designers

• Manufacturers

• Consumers

Because if they don’t understand the value of hardwood, they won’t choose it. And if they don’t choose it, the system that supports our forests, communities, and industry becomes harder to sustain.

THE COMMON MESSAGE

It comes down to this:

Use hardwood.

Support working forests.

Support rural communities.

Support a material that performs, lasts, and stores carbon.

That is the message.

And it’s one we all have a role in sharing.

Dallin Brooks, NHLA Executive Director dallin@nhla.com | 901-377-1818