Tuesday, March 17, 2026
For those of us who make our living from the forest—whether in a high-tech mill or a custom woodshop—the last few years have felt like holding our breath. We’ve watched as more than 60 wood product facilities across the country shuttered their doors since 2022. It hasn’t been a lack of craftsmanship or raw material holding us back; it’s been a stalled housing market.
This week, the industry caught a much-needed breeze. The American Wood Council (AWC) formally commended President Trump for signing a series of executive orders designed to cut through the red tape that has kept the American housing supply in a stranglehold.
The executive orders focus on two primary pain points: federal permitting under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the activation of affordable housing provisions within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Most notably, this includes the permanent extension of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).
Jackson Morrill, CEO of the AWC, didn’t mince words about the current state of the trade.
“The forest products industry is hurting… domestic manufacturers are operating below breakeven — not because of a lack of capacity or skill, but because housing starts have collapsed. Today’s executive orders help change that,” Morrill stated. “By unlocking the permanent extension of LIHTC… and cutting the permitting delays that add months to every project, President Trump is giving builders the runway they need to get shovels in the ground.”
It is impossible to overstate how much our industry relies on the roof over a family’s head. Currently, 94% of single-family homes in the U.S. are built using wood products. When the housing market sneezes, the timber industry catches pneumonia.
The structural deficit is staggering. America is short roughly 4 to 5 million housing units. We’ve seen the median age of first-time homebuyers climb from 31 to 38 in just a decade. For the rural communities supported by our mills, these aren’t just statistics—they are neighbors losing jobs.
Forest Economic Advisors suggests that the LIHTC extension alone could spark demand for 1.9 billion board feet of lumber. It’s a massive boost, but as the AWC points out, it’s only the first layer of finish on a much larger project.
While the executive orders are a strong start, the AWC is already looking toward the next “build.” They are calling on the White House to champion the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA).
The NHIA is designed to bridge the “value gap”—the difference between what it costs to build a home and what it’s actually worth in lower-income areas. If passed, it could lead to the construction or rehab of 500,000 homes over the next ten years, creating nearly 900,000 jobs in the process.
“President Trump’s background in real estate gives him a unique understanding of what it takes to build,” Morrill noted. “We urge him to use that expertise to champion the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act and make affordable homeownership a reality for millions of Americans.”
As woodworkers, we know that a solid foundation is everything. These legislative moves represent the first real attempt in years to stabilize the foundation of the American housing market—and by extension, the future of the American woodsman.
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Tags: affordable housing crisis, American Wood Council, housing supply, LIHTC extension, wood products industry
