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CAPITAL IDEAS -- LIVE!
JULY 2009
News Conference for Forest Owners
Sponsored by the Alabama Forest Owners' Association, Inc.
This Conference was recorded on JULY 15, 2009.
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Hayes D. Brown
starting time: (00:00)
Comment |
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.
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Rep. Chad Fincher
(00:28)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Legislative Forestry Study Committee
Chad Fincher was elected to
the
Alabama House of Representatives in 2006. Representative Fincher is a
graduate forester and lives in Semmes, Alabama. He is the Chairman of the
newly reactivated Legislative Forestry Study Committee. The
Forestry Study Committee was established in 1979 and is composed of 15
members. The duty of the committee is to make a complete study and needs
assessment of all facets of the Alabama forestry program, including but not
limited to:
- Problems related to forest fires,
their occurrences, causes, acreage burned, damages and whether legally
or illegally set
- Fire prevention and control in the
state forests, the adequacy of prevention, detection, reporting,
suppression and law enforcement measures
- Resource management practices and
industrial development related to the forestry program
- The effects and impact of both state
and federal environmental legislation and regulations on forestry
practices and landowner prerogatives and options.
The meetings of the Legislative
Forestry Study Committee are open to the public and will be listed in
AFOA's newsletter and website
Calendar of Events.
AFOA attended the July 9, 2009 meeting and found it to be very interesting
and informative.
Phone: (251) 649-2372
Email:
chad.fincher@alhouse.gov
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Frank M. Stewart, III
(04:20)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Critical Definition of Renewable Forest Biomass
Frank Stewart is the
contract lobbyist for the Forest Landowners Association in Washington,
DC. In that role Frank has spent a great deal of time during the past
several years trying to improve the definition of "renewable forest biomass"
that gets inserted into laws such as the
Energy Independence and Security Act of
2007 and the
2008 Farm
Bills and the recently passed
American Clean Energy and Security Act. In a world turned upside
down by fears of CO2-caused
global warming, it is important that laws designed to reduce global warming
by reducing CO2
in the atmosphere not exclude the products from our forestland from the
benefits of those laws. Unfortunately there are individuals and groups who
would like to
exclude the use of woody biomass as a source of renewable
fuels. They, too, lobby in the halls of Congress and they have been very
good at excluding forest products as acceptable renewable fuels.
Good Definition -- The definition used in
the 2008 Farm Bill, "...other plants and trees..." with modifying provisions
that:
- Includes renewable forest biomass from
all forest types and ownerships
- Relies on forest practices established
at the state and local level, rather than creating new federal mandates,
land use zoning or overly complex definitions
- Defines sustainable practices using
existing tools, such as state water quality Best Management Practices,
with proven effectiveness
- Protects wildlife, water, soils and
unique places through established and trusted public processes that rely
on state and local knowledge and expertise
- Allows for forest-health related
harvests from National Forests and BLM lands
- Studies the impact of the RES on forest
resources at the landscape level and takes corrective measures if and
when they are needed.
Phone: (703) 549-0347
Email:
fms@washington-resource.com
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Dr. H. Ken Cordell
(08:01)
Hear Conference
Comment |
National Kids Survey
Ken Cordell was a guest on
Capital Ideas - Live! last fall when he told us about (mostly adult)
"trends in nature-based outdoor recreation." About four years ago,
Richard Louv was a guest on Capital Ideas - Live! to tell us about
his book
Last Child in the Woods, and his concept of
"nature deficit disorder." You have heard and may have personal
experience that indicates kids don't go outside
any more -- they don't come in contact with forests
and wildlife. But, how much do we really know about whether or not kids
spend time outdoors? Ken's research involves surveying kids
across the country to find out whether they spend time in the outdoors and
what they do when outdoors.
Read the Nationals Kids Survey Reports and
then you decide:
Other related reading:
Phone: (706) 559-4263
Email: kcordell@fs.fed.us
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John R. Weir
(11:47)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Prescribed Fire Associations
John Weir is a Research Associate
on the Faculty of the
Natural Resource Ecology and Management Department at Oklahoma State
University. He has conducted over 750 prescribed burns and is the author of
Conducted Prescribed Fires: A Comprehensive Manual, a book to be
released by Texas A&M University Press in October. Today we asked John to
tell us about Prescribed Fire Associations -- a group of landowners that
form a partnership to conduct prescribed burns. In
Prescribed Fire Associations, he describes starting an
association and gives guidelines for keeping the association going. He also
lists several functioning Oklahoma associations that might provide advice
for local Alabama county groups that want to start an association.
Suggested Reading:
Phone: (405) 743-4714
Email: john.weir@okstate.edu
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Dr. John S. Kush
(14:27)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Escambia Experimental Forest
John Kush is a Research Fellow
for the Auburn
University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and serves as
Director of the Longleaf Pine Stand Dynamics Laboratory. Several AFOA
members told us about a wonderful
tour of the Escambia earlier this year, suggesting that we might tour
the Forest during our 2010 Annual Meeting. Tentative plans are being made.
To get you ready for 2010 and whet your appetite: "With the longleaf pine
resource declining, the U.S. Forest Service established the Escambia
Experimental Forest (EEF) in 1947 with the hope that Forest Service
scientists could find ways to provide for longleaf's restoration, with
special emphasis on its regeneration. The EEF is a 3,000 acre tract near
Brewton, AL on private land owned by T. R. Miller Mill Company. The company,
interested in the higher prices longleaf timber commanded, leased the
property to the Forest Service for 99 years." John is co-producer of a
13-minute video entitled
Sixty
Years on the "Farm 40" that outlines the history of research on the Escambia Experimental
Forest. He has also offered to help us with our 2010 visit to the Forest.
John suggests a visit to the website of the
Center for Longleaf Pine
Ecosystems which has
a
link to most of his publications, "many of which came from research done
on the Escambia."
Phone: (334) 844-1065
Email: kushjoh@auburn.edu
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Crystal Lupo
(17:41)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Survey of Portable Sawmill Owners
Crystal Lupo is a Graduate
Student at Auburn University working on a project designed to
create local markets for local resources. Last fall she conducted a
web-based survey of portable sawmill owners to learn how the small mills are
being used by forest owners to utilize timber on small timber tracts that
may not be big enough for modern "commercial" harvests. She is now working
on a more in depth, mailed survey and when that is finished, she will do
in-depth interviews with a small group of mill owners. If you own a portable
sawmill and would like to help Crystal with her research work, give her a
call or send her an email. We look forward to bringing you the final results
of her studies in a year or two.
Crystal will be presenting results of the portable sawmill survey at
two conferences this
summer:
Phone: (334) 844-8038
Email: cvl0001@auburn.edu
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Terry Reece Love
(20:19)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Earning Additional Income
Terry Love
spoke to us several years ago, urging us to develop a
"Sound Hunting Lease," and we thought it was time to ask him back to
talk about the current benefits of leasing hunting access to your land,
including income aspects. Terry is vice president (and webmaster) of
Forestry
Consultants, Inc., based in Opelika, Alabama, and helps many landowners
with their hunting leases. He frequently uses AFOA's
Hunting Land for
Lease webpage to help him find hunters interested in leasing his
clients' land.
Phone: (334) 745-7530
Email:
troublelove@mindspring.com
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Dr. Curtis Seltzer
(24:12)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Buying and Selling Forestland
Curtis Seltzer is a
Virginia-based land
consultant, author, and writer. Someone sent us a link to a recent
landthink column by Seltzer entitled,
Investing in timberland: Good move if it's priced right, and we
thought AFOA members would benefit from reading the article and hearing
Curtis expound on buying land. He has also written a book that may be of
interest:
How
To Be a Dirt-Smart Buyer of Country Property. And finally, be
sure to regularly check AFOA's Forestland For Sale
webpage. Every now and then you will find really good buys.
Phone: (540) 474-3297
Email:
curtisseltzer@htcnet.org
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