Resources for Forest Landowners Impacted by Hurricane Helene
Restoring Our Working Forests
GFA has been engaged with state and federal lawmakers to advance legislation addressing the impact of Hurricane Helene on the forestry sector, focusing on creating incentives and relief programs that help stabilize the forest products market, protect land value, and ensure the sustainability of forestry operations in Georgia. See below for resources that have been approved and others that are still in the works.
RESOURCES FOR RECOVERY
→ Block Grants
→ Emergency Forest Restoration Program
→ Fuel Mitigation Funds
→ Harvest Tax Suspension
→ Reforestation Tax Credit
These initiatives offer a coordinated response to Hurricane Helene’s impact—providing both immediate relief and long-term support for Georgia’s forest landowners.
Federal Hurricane Aid
Block Grants
Overview: As a part of the December Appropriations package, Congress allocated $30.78 billion to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support recovery efforts tied to natural disasters occurring in 2023 and 2024, including recent economic losses.
Block Grants: A portion of these funds will be distributed to individual states and producers through USDA-administered block grants, similar to those provided after Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Why this is important: Block grants empower state agencies to tailor disaster relief to the specific conditions and needs of affected regions. In the forestry sector, where storm varies widely, these grants allow for flexible, targeted responses including infrastructure repair, reforestation, and direct landowner assistance.
Current Status: Funds have been appropriated, but they are not yet available for application. GFA will share updates on how to access these resources as soon as applications become available.
Timing: FSA is actively engaged with all eight states eligible working to refine these agreements. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does not have to approve them. These are agreements between the states and USDA.
- For those states that have a final negotiated agreement by May 28, 2025, the fully executed agreement would be complete by June 13, 2025.
- For those states that have a final negotiated agreement by June 13, 2025, the fully executed agreement would be complete by June 30, 2025.
Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP)
Overview: Administered by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) provides cost-share funding to private landowners for restoring land damaged by natural disasters.
Eligibility: Non-industrial private forestland owners who have experienced damage due to Hurricane Helene.
Funding Support: Covers up to 75% of costs for debris removal, site preparation, tree planting, and other approved emergency forest restoration activities. Limited to $500,000 per person or legal entity per disaster.
Application Process: Landowners must complete the application through their local FSA office, providing documentation of damage and a recovery plan.
Deadline: June 1st, 2025
More Information: USDA EFRP Website
Back to Relief Efforts→
State-Level Hurricane Aid
Fuel Mitigation Funds
Overview: The FMit Program reduces wildfire risk by funding hazardous fuel reduction on hurricane-damaged lands.
Eligibility: Private landowners in counties designated as disaster areas due to Hurricane Helene.
Funding Support: Grants cover debris removal, thinning, prescribed burning, and mulching to mitigate wildfire risks. Participants cannot receive duplicative funding for practices reimbursed under this program (i.e. EFRP). Reimbursements are based on 80% of the documented costs.
Application Process: Administered by the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC), interested landowners can apply online or through their local GFC office.
Note: All available funding has already been allocated.
More Information: GFC FMit Program Website
Back to Relief Efforts→
Harvest Tax Suspension
Overview: HB 223 (passed via the 2025 legislative session) provides a temporary harvest tax exemption for Q4 of 2024 and all of 2025. Counties that suspend this tax will receive reimbursement grants based on pre-hurricane market values.
Eligibility: Landowners within FEMA-declared disaster areas impacted by Hurricane Helene. Counties must opt-in to suspend the harvest tax to be eligible for reimbursement grants.
Please see the map below for a list of eligible counties →
Application: This legislation was signed by Governor Kemp on Thursday, May 8th. The next steps for application are as follows:
- The Georgia Forestry Commission will develop a certification from within 10 days of the bill’s signature.
- Local counties must pass a resolution or ordinance consenting to grant this tax relief. GFA encourages you to engage with your county officials and ensure they are aware that they must pass a resolution or ordinance. We will post updates to this webpage frequently announcing which counties have decided to participate in this tax relief program.
- Once your county has determined they will participate and has passed a resolution, landowners will obtain and fill out the certification form as provided by the Georgia Forestry Commission and return it to the local governing authority.
- When the certification form becomes available, GFA will post it here on this webpage and notify our membership via email alert.
Eligible Counties: Counties shaded red or yellow
Reforestation Tax Credit
Overview: Establishes a $200 million refundable tax credit for reforestation efforts, covering up to $550 per acre. Tax credits will be based on the value of the landowner’s timber casualty loss.
- Refundable Credit: If your credit exceeds your tax liability, you’ll receive the difference as a refund payment.
- Timber Casualty Loss: This is the amount of the diminution of value included in the computation of the casualty loss deduction for such casualty losses claimed and allowed pursuant to Section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. A credit may be allowed even if the taxpayer has no adjusted basis in the timber.
- Timing: The credit is available after replanting is completed.
- Support for Landowners: A detailed guide will be provided to GFA members soon to help you and your CPA navigate the credit.
Eligibility:
Eligible taxpayers need to meet the following requirements:
- Suffered timber casualty losses in the disaster area (66 counties) due to Hurricane Helene;
- The timber was grown as part of a trade or business or a transaction entered into for profit;
- Received pre-approval of the credit from GADOR;
- Certified to the GADOR the replanting of timber in a quantity projected to yield at maturity at least 90% of the value of the timber casualty loss claimed or the restoration of each acre for which timber casualty losses were incurred to a condition that has an adequately stocked stand that is expected to result in forest products or ecological services in the foreseeable future.
Eligible land must be located in one of the 66 disaster-designated counties per Governor Kemp’s Executive order dated Oct 29th, 2024. See below for a list of eligible counties.
Eligible counties:
Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Hancock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Madison, McDuffie, McIntosh, Montgomery, Newton, Pierce, Putnam, Rabun, Richmond, Screven, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilkes, Wilkinson, and Worth.
Applications: Applications will be available from the Georgia Dept. Of Revenue (DOR) in the coming weeks. GFA will notify our members via email when the application becomes available and will provide detailed information on how to navigate the application.
What To Do Next?: Landowners should prepare to apply for this credit by gathering all of their necessary documentation. Gathering photos of the damage and obtaining a damage assessment by a registered forester should be the first thing you do. Please contact GFA for a list of registered foresters in your area.
Deadline: Applications are due by December 31, 2025.
See Why This Matters
In the weeks following the storm, the Georgia Forestry Association visited the most devastated areas of South Georgia, concurrently the state’s most productive forestlands. By sharing their stories, policymakers can begin to understand the challenges the tree farmers and their families are facing following Hurricane Helene’s devastation.
For More Information
Visit the GFA LIVE Hurricane Helene Blog for Resources and Information.
