Four Forest Restoration Initiative: Industry
The Four Forest Restoration Initiative’s model of forest management is getting the job done. In fact, 4FRI has become about more than getting the job done; it is about expanding the Arizona timber industry and building relationships.
On a national scale, the 4FRI landscape is one of the few places in the West where industry has expanded to take on hazardous fuel reduction of ponderosa pine forests through innovative approaches. While the Northwest has lost mills, Arizona has seen mills come online. Industry has doubled its capacity since 2010, meeting the needs for 4FRI’s restoration desired pace and scale. In fiscal year 2024, the 4FRI landscape treated more than 200,000 of the total 800,00 hazardous fuel acres across the Forest Service’s identified high-risk, fire-prone landscapes across 10 states.
The 4FRI program is made up of industry, government, utilities, and partners like non-profit organizations. For every federal dollar invested, industry and partners are said to invest more than $2, according to the 4FRI Stakeholder Group.
Bringing Jobs
4FRI’s steady supply of timber supports approximately 1,000 jobs in the region, meeting industry demand and maintaining stability of operators; mills; and community leaders.
- Arizona’s timber infrastructure is growing within rural settings, including newer mills like Bellemont’s Restoration Forest Products (RFOR) and Heber’s White Mountain Lumber.
- The State of Arizona is in the top ten purchasers of timber in the country, due to its co-facilitation of harvest on federal lands. In fiscal year 2024, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (AZDFFM) oversaw a quarter of the commercial acres and the non-commercial thinning acres offered by 4FRI.
Treating the Land
A firefighter uses a drip torch during a prescribed fire operation on the Coconino National Forest.
(USDA Forest Service photo)Since 2010, 4FRI has been actively expanding its forest treatments through mechanical thinning and broadcast burning. 4FRI’s momentum to provide forest ready acres to industry fits President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14225 titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” on March 1, 2025. In FY 2024, 4FRI’s exceeded its goal of 110,000 acres by 177 percent. Actions within the 4FRI footprint reduce wildfire risk to approximately 58 at-risk communities and protect 124 watersheds that provide drinking water to more than 5 million people including in Phoenix.
An expansion in harvesting would still require a balance between the number of acres that the Forest Service can prep for sale and the number of acres that industry can cut and process. Supply and demand have to exist.
“If you are going to harvest four times as much, you need four times as much demand in the market. You need four times as many loggers. You need four times as many trucks. You need four times as many processing facilities," said Blaine Emery, vice president of supply chain at Lignetics, which operates the Forest Energy Pellet Mill, Show Low, AZ.
The timber industry steps up to do more than remove trees from the forest—the real value of Arizona’s industry is to provide wildfire protection. Continued investment in the industry strengthens rural prosperity while ecologically improving forest health.
“The actual logs that we are getting off the forest is only a byproduct of the service we are providing to the American taxpayer. Our main mission is to reduce wildfire severity—the catastrophic wildfires in the Southwest and in Arizona. Saw logs and pallets are just byproducts of that main service that we provide. So, at the end of the day, the taxpayers are getting treated acres with less fire, wildfire severity, and in turn, we’re also being able to make pallets," said Devon Suarez, president of Suarez Forestry LLC, Heber, AZ.
Investing in Industry
Logs are processed in the RFOR mill in Bellemont, Arizona.
(USDA Forest Service photo)Although recreationists appreciate ponderosa pine’s beauty on the landscape, its value economically differs. Considered a low-value species, ponderosa pine is used primarily for pallets, heating pellets, and playground chips. Therefore, 4FRI strives to be efficient with commercial opportunities and federal and partner dollars to ensure maximum treatment.
To expand capacity, 4FRI has contributed federal funding through the Good Neighbor Authority with Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (AZDFFM), Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), and the Salt River Project. 4FRI supplied $3.19 million in Good Neighbor Authority agreements in FY 2024 with a match of $4.19 million.
Federal investments in the Arizona timber industry have allowed industry to stabilize itself over the past decade. 4FRI has given out $12.9 million in the past five years in federal grants of wood innovation, community wood grants, wood products infrastructure assistance grants, and community wildfire defense grants.
Investments in the timber industry to maintain and expand come from both government and industry. Increased timber production can only occur if industry can invest more.
“It would take a lot more investment to see increased timber production come to fruition. We're near capacity right now as far as the volume that our mills and power plant could take. You would need to see some new investment come in," said Operator Gary Moore, chief financial officer of Canyon Creek Logging, Show Low, AZ.