The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has offered to extend contract deadlines on certain timber sales, sale of property-stewardship contracts and forest product permits awarded or issued before April 1.
Extending these deadlines supports the timber industry’s long-term viability in markets where conditions have been significantly disrupted, especially in rural, forest-dependent communities. The decision was based on several factors that have affected the U.S. economy and timber market, including the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Individual purchasers of the timber sales contracts may request extensions – up to two years in the lower 48 states and up to three years in Alaska – or continue to work to meet their obligations.
The deadline-extension option also offered relief to businesses that had been scheduled to make timber sales payments on April 15. Without the extension, entities that bought timber sales from the Forest Service might have found themselves in default from late payments.
The Forest Service adopted the procedures to extend contracts in the early 1990s to avert contract defaults, mill closures and residual effects on forest-dependent communities. Most Forest Service timber sale contracts of more than one year contain these provisions. USDA says it has taken many immediate actions to assist farmers, ranchers, producers, rural communities, and rural-based businesses and organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information, visit www.usda.gov/coronavirus.
