GABE FIRMENT: LOUISIANA’S LOGGERS DESERVE A STRONG VOICE

Gabe Firment, Candidate for Congressional District 5, comments:

The challenges facing our logging industry are real. Shrinking markets, rising fuel and insurance costs, and workforce shortages are putting tremendous pressure on the hardworking men and women who help keep rural Louisiana’s economy moving.

On August 25, I attended a meeting of the Louisiana Loggers Association in Winnfield and heard directly from industry leaders about these challenges. I have worked closely with the LLA since I was first elected to the Louisiana Legislature in 2019, and I have tremendous respect for the people who make their living in the woods.

I also recently met with Jeffrey and Justin Lasiter of T&T Logging in Tullos and Chris Masengill with Louisiana Central to discuss practical ideas for creating new opportunities. The Lasiters are fifth-generation loggers who take great pride in their work and their industry. Their story represents the generations of Louisiana families who have built their livelihoods around our forests.

Timber is Louisiana’s most valuable agricultural commodity and an essential part of the 5th Congressional District. Our logging contractors, truck drivers, landowners, sawmills, wood-products manufacturers, and forestry professionals support jobs and communities throughout rural Louisiana.

One of the most important priorities is developing new markets for Louisiana wood. When mills close and demand declines, loggers lose customers, landowners lose competition for their timber, truckers must haul farther, and rural communities lose economic opportunity.

That is why I was proud to coauthor HB670 by Rep. Chuck Owen, now Act 664, during the 2026 Legislative Session. The law establishes a framework for Louisiana Economic Development to support the recruitment and expansion of wood pellet and wood-derived fuel manufacturing, including workforce development, site readiness, regulatory pathways, and port infrastructure.

At the federal level, I will support the Wildfire Reduction Market Expansion Act of 2026, bipartisan legislation introduced in both the House and Senate. The bill would expand the Renewable Fuel Standard’s definition of eligible biomass to include additional low-value wood, forest-management byproducts, and mill residuals. It is intended to create new market opportunities for these materials while supporting responsible forest management and wildfire-risk reduction.

As Chairman of the House Insurance Committee, I have also worked to address the insurance challenges facing Louisiana businesses through reforms focused on competition, fraud prevention, litigation, and market stability. Commercial insurance is a significant operating expense for logging contractors and log truckers, and it must remain part of the conversation.

As I seek to represent Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District, one of my top priorities will be working closely with the Louisiana Loggers Association, Louisiana Forestry Association, and all related stakeholders to ensure that our logging industry and wood-products industry as a whole have every opportunity to prosper.

That means working to expand domestic markets, encourage investment in wood-processing facilities, support responsible forest management, strengthen workforce development, protect private property rights, and remove unnecessary barriers to production.

Our loggers are not asking for a handout. They are asking for the opportunity to work, produce, and compete.

I am grateful for the relationships I have built with Louisiana’s forestry community over the past several years, and I look forward to continuing that work. The future of our logging and timber industry is directly connected to the future of rural Louisiana.

Strong forests. Strong markets. Strong rural communities."