Over one million dollars invested in state restoration economy  

  Santa Fe – The Energy Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Forestry Division is pleased to announce that over one million dollars in federal funding has been distributed to innovative businesses that provide sustainable-source wood products in New Mexico. Through utilizing wood products, these grant recipients have in turn helped the state build a restoration economy by adding jobs in rural communities.  

• RC Forest Products, LLC (La Luz) received $113,958 for their project “Supporting Biomass Wood Products Manufacturing.”   
• Mount Taylor Manufacturing (Milan) received $300,000 for their project “Enhanced Sawmill Volume, Value and Employment, Zuni Mountains, New Mexico.”  
• Got Wood NM LLC (Tularosa) received $300,000 for their “Increased Biomass Timber Utilization” project.  
• Architecture 2030 (Santa Fe) received $300,000 for their project “The Mass Timber Tipping Point: Engaging design industry leaders to unlock the potential for widespread low-carbon timber building system.”  

Funds come from the USDA Forest Service’s Wood Innovations Grant Program that received a boost through President Biden’s Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Proposals were selected that expand traditional wood utilization projects and wood energy markets or promote using wood as a construction material in commercial, institutional and multifamily buildings.    

"Our congratulations go out to these innovative New Mexico businesses” said EMNRD Secretary Sarah Cottrell Propst. “They create a double benefit: forest-based jobs in local communities along with lowering wildfire risks in the areas where the wood products are sourced.”  

Healthy New Mexico forests depend on a healthy local forest economy. “This grant will enable us to buy heavy-duty conveyors to remove sawdust from the plant as we scale up our timber processing capacity,” said Matt Allen, owner of Mount Taylor Millworks.  

These investments in sustainable businesses support the objectives of the Forestry Division’s Forest Action Plan Restoration Economy strategy, which identifies the goal of enhancing sustainable communities, businesses, and jobs throughout the state. Wood biomass generated through forest and watershed restoration projects provide a sustainable wood supply that generates heat, energy, timber and non-timber forest products to meet community needs.   

“Increased uptake of mass timber in the built environment will result in increased value for timber products, investment in technology and forest management, and jobs," said Vincent Martinez, Architecture 2030 President and COO.  

Investments like these also give further support to the state-wide effort to address the wildfire crisis in the most threatened areas through fire mitigation activities like fuels treatments and mechanical thinning.   

More information about the USDA Forest Service Community Wood Grants and Wood Innovations Grants can be found here. The next application period will be in Fall 2023.