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EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin met with hardwood producers and mill employees during a July 24 visit to R.S. Coleman Lumber Company in Culpeper, Virginia, where industry leaders outlined the economic and competitive pressures facing domestic sawmills.
The tour was part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great American Comeback initiative, which the agency describes as a nationwide effort to highlight U.S. manufacturing. Discussions focused on foreign competition, reduced market access and the growing use of imported alternatives to solid hardwood in furniture, cabinetry, flooring and other manufactured products.
“America’s hardwood and lumber industry is critical to our infrastructure as well as our building and manufacturing sectors,” Zeldin said. “Family-owned businesses like this not only create good-paying jobs but are part of the fabric of communities like Culpeper.”
The National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) said the U.S. hardwood sector has lost approximately 40,000 jobs since 2022 and that 35 sawmills have closed in 2026. The association represents about 700 companies, including independent and family-owned sawmills.
Those declines have implications across the surface and panel supply chain. Domestic hardwood is used in furniture, cabinets, flooring, millwork and architectural interiors, making the health of the sawmill sector an important factor in material availability, pricing and sourcing for downstream manufacturers.
Jamie Coleman, vice president of the R.S. Coleman Lumber Company sawmill, said greater access to domestic and international markets would support the industry’s recovery.
“American hardwood is natural, durable and healthier for people and the environment—especially more so than substitute products made of plastics and chemicals,” Coleman said. “If this administration can help us unlock greater market access, the sky is the limit.”
NHLA Executive Director Dallin Brooks described 2026 as a critical year for the industry, citing mill closures, foreign subsidies and uneven regulatory costs among the factors affecting U.S. producers.
The association said it is working with federal officials on procurement reforms, trade remedies and Farm Bill provisions intended to support rural sawmills and increase demand for American-produced hardwood.
According to NHLA, the hardwood industry supports more than 300,000 jobs and supplies materials for products including oak flooring, walnut furniture, maple cabinets, railroad ties and military pallets.
R.S. Coleman Lumber Company operates in Culpeper and produces hardwood lumber for domestic manufacturing markets. The EPA visit followed advocacy efforts led by NHLA’s Crossroads Strategies Task Force.
