Archived 2003 News, Issues & Information

(12/13/03) Tax Tips for the Forest Landowner for the 2003 Tax Year by Larry Bishop.
o  PDF Version
o  Word Version

(10/17/03) Judge: Loggers Need Pollution Permit

• Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA
• Guardian, UK
• Newsday
• Centre Daily Times, PA
• Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX
• The Ledger, FL
• Dayton Daily News, OH
• Rocky Mount Telegram, NC
• News Journal, TX
• Tuscaloosa News, AL

(09/27/03)  Eminent Domain Abuse! October 21 & November 20 are important dates for property owners in Alabaster (and America) whose land is being taken by the city in order for city officials to transfer it to a shopping center developer. More taxes will come to the city when the land is taken and developed.  Situation details and address of Alabaster Properties Defense Fund.

(09/10/03) Controlling the Southern Pine Beetle: Small Landowner Perceptions and Practices is a 37 page publication that discusses the sporadic control measures taken by forest owners.

(09/02/03) Check out the Excerpts from Another Side ...or radio spot on value of timberland. (mp3 file)

(08/17/03) Comments on Increasing Property Taxes by John McMillan, Executive Vice President of the Alabama Forestry Association in the Montgomery Advertiser, 8/10/03 (cached copy)

(08/10/03) A Property Tax Calculator can be found at www.RileyRate.com.

(07/25/03) Birmingham Talk Show Hosts Russ & Dee Fine have an interesting web page with many comments on the Riley Tax Package. After the page opens click in the right frame and scroll down.

(07/17/03) Governor Riley! Please note that your accountability program somehow has not noticed that the Alabama Forestry Commission has too much money. The state agency, with complete support of the US Forest Service, funds a variety of private organizations, including almost total funding of the Alabama Treasure Forest Association.  See ATFA tax returns for 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, and  1998.

(06/07/03) Mobile County Landowners Association Board of Directors' Position Statement on Governor Riley’s Tax Increase Proposal    For more details on this topic from MCLA, click here to read a Special Edition of The Mobile Landowner. Editor's note: MCLA associate membership for landowners outside of Mobile County is only $5 per year. Send your mailing address and payment to: Jacque Shumock, 13575 Tanner Williams Road, Wilmer, AL 36587.

(06/06/03) World's vegetation is cleaning more carbon from skies Source: The Christian Science Monitor, 6/6/03

(06/05/03) Energy Bill - This week, the Senate will begin discussions on the Energy Policy Act of 2003 (S 14). The bill includes a renewable energy title that encourages energy production from biomass and requires federal consumption of renewable energy to be not less than 3 percent during FY 2005-2007 and not less than 7.5 percent during and after FY 2011. Sources of biomass energy include products from pre-commercial thinning, mill residue, slash and other non-merchantable material. Other materials include waste pallets, crates, manufacturing and construction wood wastes, and right-of-way trimmings. S 14 also makes available grants to any person who owns or operates an eligible operation that utilizes biomass as an energy source. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is expected to introduce an amendment that would provide federal assistance to local governments and private entities to restore forest land and maintain forest conservation for carbon sequestration.
To view the entire text of the bill visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/ Source: Society of American Foresters FOREST POLICY UPDATE FOR THE WEEK OF June 2, 2003

(05/30/03) Governor Riley’s property tax increase will be voted on Monday, June 2 shortly after the House convenes at 4:00 PM. To access a calculator you can use to compute the effect of his tax increase on you and your family click here. Click here for more details from an Alabama Forestry Association memo. To find contact information for your legislators, click here. For county millage rates, click here.

(04/03/03) Take Action Now!
"S. 476, Faith-Based Initiative Contains Property Rights Zinger. S. 476, the president's Faith-Based Initiative, could possibly move to the Senate floor in the next two weeks where backers of the bill may try to pass it while the nation is preoccupied with the War in Iraq. Sections 106 and 107 of the measure present problems to property owners because they provide a 25% tax cut on capital gains from land sold only to 'an environmental group' or a government agency for conservation purposes. The provision offers an unfair advantage to groups, such as The Nature Conservancy, because sales to private interests would not be eligible for the discount. Some senators are unaware of the problems with Sections 106 and 107, therefore it is vital that landowners immediately contact their senators to ask that the offending sections be removed before final consideration. Call 1-800-648-3516 and ask for your senator's office." Click here for more information. Source: Liberty Matters News Service.

(02/13/03) Congressional Voter Guide produced by Forest Landowners Association.

(01/18/03) Anything One Would Ever Want to Know About Water Quality   A new federal website www.science.gov has been launched. The goal of this site is to make scientific information gathered by different agencies more accessible to the public. The site is an offshoot of www.firstgov.gov, and is useful because it houses information under one roof from the multiple agencies that perform scientific research. Information provided by Paul Kennedy, CAWACO, and Patti Hurley, ADEM

(01/03/03) Tree Planting Guidelines: When you hire someone to plant trees for you, spell out the requirements for proper planting in a contract. Guidelines from Alabama Forestry Commission (click here) and Texas Forest Service (click here) are available in pdf format.

Archived News, Issues & Information from 2002