- An ice storm in March 2025 destroyed 3 million acres of forest in Michigan, ripping the tops off trees across 12 Up North counties
- Federal aid for foresters has been slow to arrive as requests for the primary recovery assistance program have exceeded the amount of money available
- Many foresters have had to start restoration work without a guarantee they’ll be reimbursed
Federal money meant to help restore Michigan forests after last year’s ice storm has stopped flowing into the state because of a lack of funding nationwide.
According to the Michigan office of the federal Farm Service Agency, requests for aid around the country through the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, or EFRP, exceed the money that’s available. Congress appropriated $357 million for the program last year, some of the only federal funds available for private landowners after the ice storm.
It’s the latest development in the slow rollout of the federal program that has spanned 17 months and been mired in delays, confusion about eligibility and what’s been described as little communication from federal partners.
The ice storm damaged approximately 3 million acres of forest in Michigan, as the weight of ice downed trees and snapped branches across 12 counties in just two days. To recover just a third of those acres, the state estimates it needs about $14 million for forests managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources alone.
Some landowners and foresters said they’re frustrated with the lack of movement on work they say is important for the future of northern Michigan’s forests and the economies that depend on them. The state’s forest industry — from wood products to tourism and recreation — contributes billions to the state’s economy annually.
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“We’ve spent so much time filling out the paperwork, going and doing in-person meetings, having them on site doing visits, for what feels like nothing,” said Neil Haney, executive director at Boyne Falls’ Lake Louise Christian Community, where about 1,700 acres of woods at the campground suffered damage from the March 2025 ice storm.
But as climate change threatens to bring more extreme weather that damages forests, like ice storms, some foresters said it’s important to have aid programs like EFRP, despite their frustrations with red tape.
“Our weather conditions are becoming more harsh in many circumstances, so we need to be able to have these pots of funding available,” said Logan Hawley, a landowner and forester in Hubbard Lake who applied for EFRP.
Administered by the FSA, the program reimburses private landowners up to 75% of the cost of restoring their woods after a disaster. Work can include clearing damaged trees to prevent fire risk, replanting or managing invasive species.
Michigan FSA did not respond to specific questions about how many applications had been approved or where in the country EFRP aid had been provided. In a statement, it said landowners “may begin restoration work at their discretion; however, any work initiated prior to (federal) approval is undertaken at personal expense.”
According to Mike Smalligan, forest stewardship coordinator with the Michigan DNR, around 600 landowners “are in the application process” for EFRP.
The DNR doesn’t administer the program, but helped contract 25 foresters on behalf of the FSA who conducted site visits for applicants. Those foresters drew up restoration plans for federal approval, including recommendations for what work needs to be done and suggested reimbursement rates.
Tony Fox, a forester in Lake City, worked on more than 10 plans. The program “started off very rough” because the FSA typically works with farmers and agricultural crops, not hardwood forests.
“It was a little unfair to the folks at FSA,” Fox said. “You had a lot of folks who had no clue about the forest trying to wedge an agricultural program into the woods, so there was a steep learning curve.”
As of late September, Fox said, some landowners were waiting for reimbursement because “they just couldn’t wait” for official approval before starting work on their woods. Some are waiting for the federal green light before starting work because efforts like planting trees can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What the added delays mean for recovery work will vary from forest to forest, Fox said.
“As far as waiting, if it’s good or bad, it’s a total case study on the level of damage and the species of tree you had,” he said.
Red pine and aspen were hit hard after the storm, for example. Fox said anyone who hasn’t salvaged those trees might be looking at a financial loss. But damage to hardwoods like maple or oak won’t be long-lasting.
Hawley in Hubbard Lake was also contracted by the state to help with more than 30 restoration plans. He said one plus of the program has been working with landowners who otherwise would’ve never had an expert come look at their property and discuss forest health.
Still, as a landowner whose own EFRP application is up in the air, Hawley said there are no easy answers to questions he gets from applicants about how to start restoration work without leaving them ineligible for future funding, if it becomes available again.
Some landowners don’t have the resources to do the work without federal aid, Hawley said. And “these delays are continually putting us at a place where we have to restart efforts” when the next storm hits. Parts of the region experienced another ice storm in spring 2026.
Hawley worries about how delaying restoration work can leave forests more vulnerable to disease, fire or future storm damage.
Created by Congress in 2008 as part of the national Farm Bill, EFRP provides disaster relief to nonindustrial, private forest landowners. The program has been used after Hurricane Helene and wildfires in the western US, for example.
But Congress has acknowledged issues with disaster relief programs like EFRP because the timing of appropriations bills don’t coincide with when disaster strikes. This summer, Congress passed a bill to address some of those concerns by allowing advance payments to landowners. It was unclear how the new law would affect aid for northern Michigan.
US Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, who represents all of northern Michigan, said in a statement that Up North landowners “shouldn’t have to fight Washington just to get help recovering.”
He called on Congress and his colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee to replenish funding for EFRP.
“If Washington calls this emergency relief, it needs to act like it’s an emergency,” Bergman said.
Despite frustrations, Haney in Boyne Falls said his camp’s woods will ultimately be fine without the funding.
“Nature will be nature, and it’ll come back. It’ll just take longer,” he said.
But Haney hopes this rollout of EFRP in northern Michigan will be a lesson for the federal government.
“The federal government knows how to handle hurricanes, tornadoes,” he said. “It felt like they didn’t know what to do with an ice storm.”\
This reporting is made possible by the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative, led by Bridge Michigan and Interlochen Public Radio, and funded by Press Forward Northern Michigan.
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