From the Director's Desk: Election Watch – Part I of an Ongoing Series, Nationwide Fiber Demand in Freefall
Election Watch – Part I of an Ongoing Series
In just 60 days, Americans will head for voting booths to elect governors, senators, representatives, and state and local offices of all types. Every voter carries their own issues into the voting booth and makes their decisions based on those issues, one of the greatest privileges of being an American. For the Pellet Fuels Institute, federal elections introduce change to our own congressional footprint. I sometimes refer to the members of Congress who represent pellet-producing states or districts as the PFI Caucus, although that isn’t a completely accurate use of that term. I’m going to stretch the definition and use it as shorthand to describe the collective members of Congress that represent our industry.
In November, every House seat is up for grabs as they are during every election cycle, and this year there are 14 races for Senators in the PFI Caucus. Senators seeking reelection are:
Tom Cotton (AR)
John Hickenlooper (CO)
Jim Risch (ID)
Susan Collins (ME)
Jeff Merkley (OR)
Mark Warner (VA)
Shelly Moore Capito (WV)
Bill Hagerty (TN)
Jon Husted (OH)
Five other senators are retiring from politics and their seats feature open races:
Joni Ernst (IA)
Gary Peters (MI)
Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
Mitch McConnell (KY)
Tina Smith (MN)
During the PFI’s last fly-in, we met (or with the staff of) with Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Jon Husted, Jeff Merkley, and Shelley Moore Capito. Each election introduces the possibility that a long-time industry champion is unseated, OR we gain an ally in a state or district where we didn’t find traction before.
In each edition of the Pellet Wire from now until election day, we’ll look at a race of consequence through the lens of our sector. This week, we’ll look at the senate race in Maine between Sen. Susan Collins and her challenger Troy Jackson.
Sen. Susan Collins is seeking her sixth Senatorial term. She has been a longtime supporter of the wood pellet sector, recognizing the value the industry provides to the greater forest products sector, which is near and dear to her heart. Her family has owned a lumber business since the mid-1800s. She has introduced legislation to establish a federal tax credit for pellet appliances and authored the original Community Wood Facilities Assistance Act, which has been a fixture in the Farm Bill every since. Sen. Collins is seventh on the Senate seniority roster and chairs the Appropriations Committee. She has welcomed us into her offices every time we conduct a fly-in and has been a strong advocate for our sector throughout her tenure.
Her challenger is Troy Jackson, who has served in both the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate, where he eventually ascended to the position of Senate President. Jackson too has deep roots in the forest products community. He is a logger, raised by a logging father who was raised, in turn, by a logging father. Should Jackson succeed in unseating Collins, the PFI will not have to spend much time educating Jackson on the important role our industry plays in the broader forest products ecosystem. Jackson’s campaign website lists a number of progressive positions on health care, taxation, immigration, and foreign policy. He has broad support from labor unions in the state and has received high profile endorsements from Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna. Jackson championed wood energy throughout his career in Maine State politics, authoring at least three different pieces of legislation to boost the production of wood-derived energy in the state. He said this about biomass, “With challenges facing the pulp and paper industry, workers and businesses in the forest products industry have also embraced the biomass industry, which is good for our environment, economy and our wallets.”
Current polls suggest this may be the closest Senate race in the country. Jackson currently shows as a 2-point to 9-point favorite depending on the poll, but election analysts point to Collins’s long history of winning despite trailing in pre-election polls. Pollsmax currently shows Collins with a 61% chance of winning.
However this race shakes out, it seems likely that the PFI’s message on the importance of adding value to wood fiber by producing wood pellets will be understood and prioritized.
Nationwide Fiber Demand in Freefall
I’ve included a link (see article below) to a Wall Street Journal article from last week about the complete collapse of demand for softwood fiber in the Southeast due to pulp mill closures, the increased use of recycled fiber in the production of paper packaging and a sluggish housing economy. It warrants your attention and consideration. It does not stand alone as an isolated data point. Forisk offers that 4.6 million tons of wood demand from southeast Georgia vanished when two pulp mills and a sawmill in Riceboro closed. The containerboard sector has retired about 3.9 million tons of capacity since February 2025. If you spent any time on LinkedIn this week, you noted the reaction from industry thought leaders from across the forest products sector. Our producer members in the East likely regarded the “Fiber Demand in Freefall” headline with a raised eyebrow. I’ve spoken to producers who are struggling to find hardwood fiber as more hardwood mills close their doors. Pellet producers using hardwood fiber are inextricably linked to the demand for higher value products produced upstream. Without demand for hardwood flooring, furniture and other high value products, the residuals just won’t be there.
Earlier this year, I attended the Market Matter Convening in Madison, Wisconsin, where this same issue was addressed and a call to action was raised by a number of the thought leaders in the broader forest products category including the Forest Service Chief, Tom Schultz. Anyone who joined us in Mobile, Alabama, for the 2026 Pellet Fuels Institute Annual Conference heard the impassioned post-lunch presentation by the NHLA’s Dallin Brooks about the lack of demand in the hardwood sector, resulting in fewer sawmill residuals being produced.
Taken together, it is unnerving. The broader forest products sector is in a precarious place, and supply chain participants from landowners to loggers, nurseries to pellet producers are beginning to feel the strain. The forest products sector produces $350 billion in revenues each year, or almost 5% of this country’s gross domestic product. That activity provides two million jobs and delivers value to every individual, family or institution that owns land. The broader forest products sector is a cornerstone of our economy; shoring it up needs to amongst the highest priorities our state and federal policymakers.
Most distressing of all, at least for me, is that the narrative of scarcity continues to find traction whenever questions of wood energy come up. When absolutely everyone who makes their living in forestry, forest management and forest products manufacturing is sounding alarm bells about the collapse of demand and the impact that will have on the continuation of forests as forests, how do arguments of deforestation from responsible use find purchase? It is shameful. The 120th Congress, when it is sworn in early next year, has to address a cornerstone of the American economy in crisis. Wood energy may not solve all that ails the broader forest products sector, but if it is to be saved, the voices denouncing the greater utilization of wood as an energy input need to be shown for what they are, uninformed and ultimately, harmful.
