The entire Mississippi Congressional Delegation has sent a letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack Thursday requesting his assistance in changing the Emergency Forestry Restoration Payments structure to allow landowners to receive advanced payments under the program.
Currently, landowners have to pay these costs out of pocket, then wait a period of time before being reimbursed.
The USDA declared all 82 counties in Mississippi as primary disaster areas due to the extreme drought in 2023 triggering a major pine beetle outbreak leading to over 12 million dead trees in the state.
That is an economic value of $96 million of lost timber. The Mississippi delegation is asking the USDA to provide assistance in advance of landowners attempts to restore their property.
The EFRP program provides a 75% cost share for clean up, debris removal, and replanting costs for timber destroyed by a natural disaster/drought.