| |
CAPITAL IDEAS -- LIVE!
May 2003 News Conference for Forest Owners
Sponsored by Alabama Forest Owners' Association, Inc.
Conference was recorded Wednesday, May 21, 2003.
SCROLL DOWN FOR CONFERENCE GUEST INFORMATION
|
|
Hayes D. Brown
starting time: (00:00) |
Moderator
Hayes D. Brown, attorney and forest owner, will moderate this
news conference. Hayes' email address is
hbrown@hayesbrown.com.
Click Here to View & Hear Prior News Conferences.
.
|
|
Dr. Richard L. Stroup
(00:55) |
Eco-Nomics: What Everyone Should Know About Economics and the
Environment
Richard Stroup
is a senior associate at the
Political Economy Research
Center in Bozeman, Montana and a professor of economics at
Montana State University. His work helped to develop the approach to
resource problems known as the New Resource Economics or Free Market
Environmentalism.
For example, a forest owner
may have little personal interest in wildlife, but may improve wildlife
habitat on his land because he has the right to control access to it
and hunters are willing to pay him for that right. If the
landowner were not allowed to prevent hunter trespass, he would probably
do very little to improve wildlife habitat on his land. (Currently,
over 3,000 members of AFOA provide hunting opportunities for
approximately 60,000 hunters on 2.4 million acres of forestland. Many
seek to improve their income by improving the hunting experience for
their lessees.)
Dr. Stroup's latest book is
Eco-Nomics: What Everyone Should Know about Economics and the
Environment (published by Cato). For more information about the
book, see
www.perc.org/publications/books/eco_nomics.html. To buy the book
online, contact www.catostore.org.
Cost is $9.95.
phone: (406) 587-9591
email: stroup@perc.org
.
|
|
Dr. Richard L. Porterfield
(04:17) |
Reality Check
Dick
Porterfield, provides us with an interesting perspective from
his position as a retired Executive Vice President of Champion
International Corporation and a former Commissioner of the
Alabama Forestry Commission. In a recent speech to the Forest
Resources Association (formerly the American Pulpwood Association)
in Portsmouth, Virginia, he pointed out how consolidation of ownership
in the traditional forest products industry and changing expectations of
the voting public are affecting us -- both loggers and landowners. He
suggests we (landowners & loggers) learn to work better together and
points out several advantages to each group if we do so.
The full text of his speech was reprinted in the May issue of
Southern Loggin' Times magazine (click here).
phone: (757) 253-9042
email: rlporterfield2@aol.com
.
|
|
Richard J. Oates
(08:37) |
Property Taxes & the Billion Dollar Riley Plan
Rick Oates
has been on the staff of the
Alabama Forestry
Association since 1993 and currently serves as the Executive
Director of the Alabama Pulp and Paper Council. We have put him
on the spot today by asking him to tell us all about Governor Riley's
proposed $1.2 billion tax increase and, in particular, the proposal's
effect on property taxes. While we realize the proposal is likely to
change, we know you will want to have the best information possible
about how it might affect you and your property.
To help you calculate the
proposed increase on your own property, AFA has developed an Excel
Spread Sheet that converts your local millage rate into a dollars and
cents tax per acre. Before you open the spread sheet, you will need to
know your local millage rate.
Click here for County Millage Rates. Then return to this web page
and *(see yellow highlighted area below)
click here to open the Riley Tax
Calculator. (you will have to have the Microsoft Excel program
in your computer to run the calculator.) Read over the introductory
material and then click on the Forestland tab at the bottom. On the
Forestland worksheet you will see the words "Total State & Local Millage
Rate" followed by a 40. We typed in 23.5 over the 40, hit the "enter"
key and watched the calculator figure our taxes in Autauga County --
about double what they are today! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the
spread sheet to see the total increase.
* Click here to see a more
accurate Riley Tax Calculator that is changed as the tax bills in
Montgomery change.
This version is on the Alabama Forestry Association website and is being
updated by AFA staff. Use it instead of the old version we posted for
the May 21 webcast.
phone: (334) 265-8733
email: roates@alaforestry.org
.
|
|
G. Kenneth Xydias
(11:52) |
Precommercial Thinning of Planted Pine -- Is It Worth It?
Ken Xydias
is a quantitative silviculturalist at
Resource Management
Service, Inc., a forestry consulting company based in
Birmingham, Alabama. Ken likes to play "what if" games and we asked him
to help us make a decision based on the following scenario.
Our consulting forester in
north Alabama recently told us that 15 acres of a 50 acre loblolly pine
plantation (planted in January 1997) was very crowded due to wildlings
that had seeded in among the planted trees. He suggested we do a
precommercial thinning and that it would cost about $60 to $75 per acre.
The crew would use weed whackers with circular saw blades to cut down
the unwanted young trees. Our question for Ken: Is the pre-commercial
thinning a sound investment? Will our money invested in the thinning pay
off more than it will if we leave it in current investments (which
aren't doing very well, as you might guess)? Ken speculates.
A little food for thought:
Regulating Stand Density By Precommercial Thinning In Naturally
Regenerated Loblolly Pine Stands: Evaluation of Management and Economic
Opportunities
quick loading version
slow loading version (prettier)
“Correct” planting density for loblolly pine...
Texas
Forest Service Timberland Management Simulator: Plug in your own
numbers and play What If.
phone: 1-800-995-9516
email: kxydias@resourcemgt.com
.
|
|
Dale Pancake
(16:05) |
Increasing Species Diversity with Growing Season Fire
Dale Pancake
is Assistant Director of Auburn University's
Solon Dixon
Forestry Education Center in Andalusia, Alabama. In that role,
Dale directs a lot of prescribed burns to carry out the management
objectives of the Center. One of those objectives is to convert
understory vegetation from brush and shrubs to grasses and forbes (weeds
and wildflowers). That conversion increases species diversity and
reduces the understory fuel load. Dale describes their success in
applying growing season fire (April through July) to achieve that
conversion objective, but he also cautions us about burning on
especially hot days or in areas where turkeys may be nesting. He
suggests we might find more information on Growing Season Fire by
looking at the following websites:
phone: (334) 222-7779
email: pancadc@auburn.edu
.
|
|
Jeffery N. Lucas
(19:47) |
Why
would a forest owner need a survey?
Jeffery
Lucas
is a Professional Land Surveyor who "travels throughout the
southeast performing surveying services for private and commercial
clients." We found his web page interesting (www.jnlucaspls.com)
and called him to learn more about how a surveyor could help us with our
boundary line problems. He explains what a land surveyor does and what
he might be able to do for a forest owner. He describes how adverse
possession can affect a property boundary and the survey of that
boundary. And finally, Mr. Lucas discusses fees for surveys.
Several web links for your
review:
phone: (205) 425-5200
email: info@jnlucaspls.com
.
|
|
James M. Beers
(23:35) |
Federal Invasive Species Program
Jim Beers
retired from the US Fish and Wildlife Service after 30 years where he had
served as a wildlife biologist, wetlands biologist, special agent, and
refuge manager. We learned about Jim when we received reports about
his testimony before the House Committee on Resources during an oversight
hearing on Invasive Species. He testified as Science Advisor of
the
American Land Rights
Association. Jim believes that the Constitution does not give
the federal government authority over invasive species. He compares the
invasive species program to the endangered species program and warns us
to not give federal agents authority to enter our property to control
"invasive" plant and animal populations.
phone: (703) 830-7229
email: jimbeers7@earthlink.net
.
|
|
Noreen Walsh
(28:14) |
Conservation Banks
Noreen Walsh
is the Deputy Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services of
the Southeast Region of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The
Service is a Federal agency within the Department of the Interior whose
mission is to work with others to conserve fish and wildlife and their
habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service
has recently released some guidelines on the establishment and use of
conservation banks
as a tool to mitigate for impacts to endangered and threatened species.
Ms. Walsh explains what is meant by the word mitigation, how a
conservation bank works and how a private landowner can go about getting
a conservation bank approved.
AFOA became interested in the
banks when we read in a USF&WS press release the following:
Hickory Pass Ranch Conservation Bank, Texas. In exchange for putting
a conservation easement on their 3,000-acre ranch in the Texas Hill
Country for the perpetual protection of the golden-cheeked warbler, the
landowners received conservation credits from the Service that can be sold
to businesses and local governments to mitigate impacts to
the species.
Noreen suggests we check
out the following websites, especially the first one:
phone: (404)679-7085
email: noreen_walsh@fws.gov
.
|
|
|
Issues and Topics AFOA is
following.
To suggest an issue or a
topic for a future news conference,
please send an email note to AFOA by clicking here. |
- National or Federal Issues
-
EPA Proposed Water Quality Trading
- Energy Bill
- CCA Treated Southern Pine Lumber
- TMDLs
- EPA Basin Projects
- CARA
- Forest Certification
- 2002 Farm Bill
- Energy Crisis & Federal Eminent
Domain
- Red Hills Salamander
- Constitutional Revision/Tax Reform
- County Zoning
- Right to Farm & Practice Forestry
- Illegal Dumping
- Delaney Family Current-Use Case
- JeffCo Storm Water Management
Program
- Current Use Tax Assessment Rates
- Local Harvesting Restrictions &
Road Weight Limits
- Bridge Repairs & the Alabama Trust
Fund
- Dog Hunting & Hunter Trespass
- Seasonal Forest and Wildlife
Management Tips
- Southern Pine Beetle: Salvage &
Prevention
- Forest Fertilization
- Intensive Forest Management
- Long Rotation Management & Natural
Regeneration
- Palm Pilots & Forest Records
- Useful Computer Software
- Industry Consolidation & Timber
Markets
- Stumpage & Forest Product Markets
- Forestland For Sale
- Wood Buying Policies During SPB
Epidemic
- Alabama's Pine Straw Wholesale
Market
- Minerals, Gas & Oil Activity
- Recreational Businesses for Forest
Owners
|
|
