Archived 2021 News, Issues & Information
(12/30/21)
"Shallow
planting is a major cause of
[loblolly and slash pine] seedling
mortality." That is the
message ArborGen's Paul Jeffreys
urges us to remember in their
December 2021 TreeLines.
Oh, and don't cut the roots!
(12/29/21)
"With
lab help, whiskey distillers skip
oak barrel-aging. But how does it
taste?" asks Reuters' Nathan
Frandino. If whiskey researchers
Martin Janousek and Stu Aaron (Bespoken
Spirits) are successful, their
distilling and flavoring process
might dramatically reduce the demand
for white oak barrel staves. As
taxpayers, we hope the state and
federal forestry folks and their
enablers in state and federal
capitols recognize the futility of
predicting drinking fashions 5 or
more decades in the future.
(12/28/21)
Impacts of the Supply Chain Crisis
to the Forest Products Industry:
Forest Resources Association's Tim
O'Hara describes several supply
chain problems being faced by
various segments of the forest
industry. Not a good story.
(12/22/21)
"Forestry Taxes -- Learn Plan &
Save Money. Join this webinar series
to learn how to save money on your
timber taxes."
Mark your calendar and then register
here. We'll link to
recordings when the sessions are
published online.
-
Jan 18: Seeing
the Forest for the Trees: An Overview of Forestry
Taxes
-
Jan 25: Basics
of Timber Basis: Re(setting) the Table
-
Feb 1: Keeping
More of Your Timber Income Following a Timber Sale
-
Feb 8: Timber
Management Expenses and Deductions
-
Feb 15: Coping
with the Losses from Nature and Chance
(12/21/21)
Which Mapping Software Do You Use?
is a useful short report by Jonathan
Goode on LandThink.com, 12/7/21. The
report is very good and introduces
us to software we hadn't heard of
before. Editor's note: Readers
interested in ownership maps should
be aware that
HuntStand Pro,
like LandGlide mentioned by Jonathan
in the report, sells for $29.99 per
year, much lower than LandGlide's
$10 per month.
(12/20/21)
Tissue manufacturing to continue
at Calhoun, Tennessee mill, but pulp
and paper operations to be idled,
Resolute Forest Products Inc.
announced on December 16. Resolute's
"state-of-the-art facility in
Calhoun has a production capacity of
66,000 short tons per year of
premium, private-label tissue,
including bath and towel, aimed at
the growing retail market."
(12/17/21)
Do you have young friends or
family members who might enjoy
working in the forest industry?
You might suggest they watch this
video produced by the Tennessee
Forestry Association:
Come be part of something big
happening here in your state.
More than twenty-five job ideas in
the industry are described with
videos here.
(12/16/21)
2021 Policy Wrap-Up: Property Rights
and Regulations Affecting Private
Forest Landowners was
produced and recorded by the Forest
Landowners Association on December
14 and is now available on line.
About 27 minutes.
(12/15/21)
Health Insurance: If you are
still looking for reasonably priced
health insurance that meets your and
your family's needs, read John
Goodman's
How the States Can Reform Health
Care. We suspect that for
the dedicated insurance hunter, the
article will contain information
that could help you find what you're
looking for.
(12/14/21)
Rural Residents, Take Note:
"The Alabama Digital Expansion
Authority (ADEA) on Thursday held a
public meeting during which leaders
discussed strategies to bring
essential broadband services to all
corners of the Yellowhammer State."
(12/13/21)
The Third Attempt to Empty Rural
Vermont is an interesting
essay by John McClaughry about
attempts to remove people from rural
areas - this time in the name of
reducing their carbon footprint.
(12/10/21)
Plant Early This Winter:
"The southern tier of the United
States is expected to be warmer and
drier than normal during La Niña
winters. Therefore, if seedlings are
planted too late in the season,
survival rates may decrease. The
Southern Forest Nursery Management
Cooperative is again recommending
limited storage time of seedlings
and earlier planting dates than
those traditionally followed."
See similar alert from last year.
(12/09/21)
"Be careful who you are
supporting with your gifts this
time of year," warns Sportsmen's
Alliance and National Deer
Association spokesmen during an NDA
Coffee and Deer podcast
entitled
Protecting Our Hunting Heritage From
Animal Rights Groups.
Editor's note: Access to hunting
land is a growing portion of land
values in the South, so a discussion
on the threats to hunters and
hunting merits your time and
attention.
(12/08/21)
A Christmas Story: Since
Boise, Idaho has lately been the
destination of people fleeing the
over-regulated states of California,
Illinois, New York and several
others, we were surprised to read
about a property rights issue and
Idaho's State Capitol Christmas tree
that recently made the news.
(12/07/21)
In Alabama: After stumpage
prices peaked in mid-October, "they
have settled at a place that is
stronger than the last several
years." Source:
F&W Market Report, 12/3/21.
(12/06/21)
How Many Widgets are in that Tree?
is the title of a 15 minute video
produced by the Virginia Cooperative
Extension. It's one of the best
sessions we've seen on how to use a
Biltmore Stick. For many years, AFOA
has featured an outdoor tree
measurements session at our annual
meetings, and sometimes we've given
Tree Scale Sticks as prizes. If you
buy one, we suggest you order the
Scribner Scale.
$23.15 right now at Forestry
Suppliers.
(12/03/21)
Alabama Timber Market Assessment and
Outlook was presented
Wednesday to a landowner audience by
Auburn University's Adam Maggard.
Very good. About 56 minutes.
(12/02/21)
Cahaba Pressure Treated Forest
Products, Inc., with 2020 sales of
$56 million of poles, crossties, and
posts, was recently acquired by
Canada's Stella-Jones Inc.
(12/01/21)
Plan now to improve next year's
hunting lease arrangements.
Virginia Tech's Jason Fisher
discusses
Hunting Lease Best Practices
in a "15 Minutes in the Forest"
video. Find hunters using AFOA's
www.HuntingLand.bz webpage and
protect yourself from risks by using
AFOA's Group Hunting Lease Liability
Insurance Policy.
(11/30/21)
Tree Planting Drones,
Equipment Delivery Drones,
and
Herbicide Application Drones:
They're getting bigger and the
services are improving.
(11/29/21)
"The coming 'owners' of nature
and natural processes will be the
only real beneficiaries," says
Whitney Webb in her Unlimited
Hangout, 10/13/21, article,
Wall Street's Takeover of Nature
Advances with Launch of New Asset
Class. Editor's note: In
the future, values now worthless to
forest owners, such as clean water,
clean air, solitude, wildlife
habitat, carbon sequestration, and
others may completely outshine
traditional values such as timber
and hunting leases. The message:
don't sell or give away rights that
currently are not valued by society.
(11/24/21)
Google Earth and GPS for the Rest of
US and
From Apps to Maps are two
presentations on using GPS (global
position systems) and GIS (geographic
information systems) produced by
Peter Smallidge, New York State
Extension Forester, Cornell
University.
(11/23/21)
Marketing Hardwood Timber,
Why Herbicides Sometime Fail,
Planning a Tree Planting Project,
and
Identifying Hickory Trees
are the titles of the most recent
issues of the University of
Tennessee's Back Porch Forestry
series.
The entire collection of Back Porch
Forestry videos.
(11/22/21)
Special Tool to Sharpen Chain Saws:
Mr. Chainsaw, Tim Ard, who
teaches chain saw use and safety all
across the U.S., reports that the
Pferd Chain Saw Sharpening Tools
can help you improve the results of
your sharpening attempts.
(11/19/21)
"Bare root and containerized tree
seedlings must be handled carefully
from the time they are harvested at
the nursery until they are
transplanted in the field. Equally
important is planting seedlings
correctly." ArborGen's
Seedling Care & Planting Guidelines
will tell you how. 16 pages.
(11/18/21)
Selling Carbon Credits in Alabama:
Alabama forest owners were the
target audience for NCX's November
11 presentation. Alex MacIntosh made
a brief presentation and then
answered questions from the
audience. Check out their website:
https://ncx.com/our-story/.
(11/17/21)
The Biden administration's U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service last week did a
big favor for forest owners in the
South when, in the name of
protecting the spotted owl, it
"struck down a rule that would have
opened millions of acres of West
Coast forest to potential logging."
Would it be wrong for private
forest owners in the South to be
concerned that, as government
agencies acquire and/or control more
forestland through programs such as
Forever Wild, Forest Legacy, and
thousands of conservation easements,
timber harvesting lockdowns, such as
occurred in the Northwest, might be
imposed here?
(11/16/21)
The current issue of the
Temperate Agroforester
contains articles on growing and
marketing pawpaw fruit and the
eastern US chestnut industry
(edible chestnuts).
An archive of past issues is here.
(11/15/21)
The 2021 National Register of
Champion Trees (the
most massive specimens of trees of
their species) is maintained by
American Forests.
The 2021 Champion Trees of Alabama
is maintained by the Alabama
Forestry Commission. Four Alabama
trees are national champions:
Alabama Black Cherry, Post Oak,
Durand White Oak, and Southern
Shagbark Hickory.
(11/12/21)
The American Chestnut: Donald
E. Davis, an independent scholar and
the author of
The American Chestnut: An
Environmental History,
published this month by the
University of Georgia Press, gave a
lecture last week entitled,
Giving Character to the Landscape:
An Environmental History of the
American Chestnut. The
video lecture is about 41 minutes
plus about 25 minutes of Q & A.
(11/11/21)
Listen to interviews with experts
in the
November issue of Capital Ideas -
Live!
(11/09/21)
Direct Seeding: Purdue
University's Extension Forester
Lenny Farlee, in a 3 minute
video, discusses and demonstrates
sowing seeds of hardwoods such as
walnuts and oaks into forested areas
lacking in those species. Farlee was
a guest on
Capital Ideas - Live!, March
2014, when he spoke to AFOA
members about
Crop Tree Management.
(11/08/21)
Timber and Goats: A Perfect Pair.
Progressive Farmer writer Dan
Crummett described a Georgia forest
landowner's work managing his 75
acre tract of timber using goats to
reduce brush. Landowner Jerry Bird
was quoted in the article: "All
that brush I used to burn I'm now
selling for about $2 a pound."
(11/05/21)
10.3 percent of Alabama residents
bought a hunting license in 2020,
according to Stacker.
California had the lowest percentage
of hunters at 0.7 percent. South
Dakota ranked at the top of the list
at more than 24 percent. Source:
Stacker, 10/11/21. Editor's
Note: Some of the hunting license
numbers seemed a bit different from
numbers we've seen in the past from
other sources, so it may be best not
to quote Stacker's numbers far and
wide.
(11/04/21)
Turtles of Alabama was the
title of
Extension Specialist Wesley Anderson's
webinar yesterday. In the recorded
presentation, Anderson describes
numerous turtle species, the laws
regarding turtles and gives us ideas
on how to improve habitat for
turtles on our land. Video; about
53 minutes.
(11/03/21)
"Wood products production and
consumption in the US grew from 1961
through 2005, when the housing
bubble popped and the Great
Recession began. Consumption of
logs, lumber and panels has
increased since the recession, but
not to prerecession levels. Pulp
production and consumption has
leveled off." Source:
Forest Research Notes,
Vol. 18, No. 3, Third Quarter 2021.
Complete Research Notes archive.
(11/02/21)
Legislative Learn and Burn:
"Seven members of the Alabama
Legislature gained first-hand
experience last week in carrying out
one of the most important parts of
managing the state’s forests: the
controlled burn." Source:
YellowHammer, 10/27/21.
(11/01/21)
Elon Musk suggests writing to
your Congressman about proposal to
Tax Unrealized Capital Gains:
Musk retweeted a message from Rick
McCracken, CEO of ADA, who wrote,
"The Wyden proposal [to tax
unrealized capital gains] takes new
tax hikes a step closer to imposing
unrealized capital gains tax on the
average investor."
Read the sample letter proposed by
McCracken. Scroll down to
2) Elon Musk Is On To The Liberal
Playbook.
Or read cached version here.
(10/29/21)
The Alabama Butterfly Atlas
collects, interprets, and shares
information about Alabama's
butterfly populations for
the purpose of education and
conservation. Enjoy.
(10/28/21)
"Pregnant
Farmers Must Take Extra Precautions:
While farm safety is important for
every family member and worker,
expectant moms have even more
hazards to consider." This article
from Successful Farming,
9/23/21, may not be of interest to
all forest owners, but for those
of you who may have livestock on
your land, you will want to pay
attention to some of the cautions
raised.
(10/27/21)
What does it cost to practice
forestry in the South? Auburn
University's
Dr. Adam Maggard provides
answers to that question in his
report, 2020 Costs and Trends for
Southern Forestry Practices.
Maggard discusses the report in a
video,
Gain Insights Into Cost Trends and
Management Practices of Working
Forests, produced by the
Forest Landowners Association.
The program starts at 1:50. About 1
hour.
(10/26/21)
White Oak Acorns Wanted in
Tennessee. The Tennessee
Forestry Association and the
University of Tennessee are asking
the public to collect white oak
acorns that can be sown at the East
Tennessee State Nursery. White oak
acorns begin to germinate within a
few days of falling to the ground,
so special care needs to be taken of
the nuts once collected. If you want
to learn more about collecting
acorns, even if not for the
Tennessee nursery,
watch their How-To Video.
About 9 minutes.
(10/25/21)
"Property
line maintenance is one of the most
important aspects of land ownership."
Penn State Extension presents a
written discussion and a 4 minute
video that includes a great paint
(and clothes) saving device.
(10/22/21)
Attorney and Visiting Professor with
the Alabama Cooperative Extension
System Robert Tufts discussed
Landowner Liability, Timber Trespass
(theft) and Adverse Possession
on Wednesday of this week. Audio
recording with PowerPoint slides --
about 54 minutes.
(10/21/21)
Defer Capital Gains Using Like-Kind
Exchanges: Did you know that
it's possible to push off (defer)
payment of capital gains taxes by
taking advantage of a Section 1031
exchange that allows you to swap
investment property on a
tax-deferred basis? Read more in the
October 2021 Newsletter of
DeLoach, Barber & Caspers, P.C.
(10/20/21)
Property taxes became due on
October 1 and will be delinquent if
not paid by January 1. Dave and
Johnny have a brief, but interesting
discussion about property taxes on
Episode 313 of The Land Show.
They mention that some counties are
no longer sending out property tax
notices -- that it is the
landowner's responsibility to pay
the taxes before January 1. Slide
to 53:20 - about 4 1/2 minutes.
(10/19/21)
"At the height of his popularity,
Thornton Burgess was widely
acknowledged as the voice of
American conservation. While
there were more talented writers
working in the genre, and more
knowledgeable scientists in the
field, no one understood how to
communicate these ideas better than
the author of Old Mother West
Wind, which has been
continuously in print since 1910."
Source:
Old Mother West Wind, Laughing
Brook, and the Stories that Inspired
Generations, Northern
Woodlands, Autumn 2021. Did
someone read to you about
Grandfather Frog, Longlegs The
Heron, Whitefoot The Wood Mouse and
the rest of the gang?
(10/18/21)
Growth, Inflation and Time:
If you sell $100 worth of healthy
trees today, the growth in size and
quality (perhaps 6 percent) plus
inflation (5.4 percent - see FEA
article) will benefit the buyer
when the trees are harvested a year
from now ($100 + $6 + $5.40 =
$111.40). Read:
September Consumer Price Index
Increases 0.4% Month-Over-Month and
5.4% Year-Over-Year, Forest
Economic Advisors, 10/13/21.
(10/15/21)
"Alabama
Forest Owners' Association warns
about illegal fees,"
reported NBC15 News in
Mobile, Alabama on 10/14/21. Jessica
Little, who was interviewed by
NBC15, also reported today to AFOA
that some of the property tax bills
of her landowner clients in
Montgomery County and Jefferson
County contain illegal fire district
fees. See an
example of a fire fee on a tax
notice and, most disturbing of
all, a
refund letter from the Mobile County
Revenue Commissioner at
Jessica's segment of the
October issue of Capital Ideas -
Live!
(10/14/21)
How To Build a Fishing Pond.
"When it comes to how to build a
fishing pond, it is a lot more
detailed than just contracting with
an excavating company and digging a
hole in the ground," says Norman
Latona, Southeastern Pond
Management. Source: Great Days
Outdoors, 9/13/21.
(10/13/21)
Check out the headlines for the
October issue of Capital Ideas -
Live!
(10/12/21)
Marginal vs. Effective Tax Rates:
The October 2021 Newsletter
of DeLoach, Barber & Caspers, P.C.
contains an interesting section on
that topic. What percentage of
your income do you pay in taxes?
(10/11/21)
"Pine pulpwood prices skyrocketed
by an astounding +78 percent QoQ and
YoY," reported Forest2Market
Blog, 10/11/21,
Southern Timber Prices Hit 14-Year
High. The high prices are
the result of a very rainy summer --
and the prices aren't being paid to
people with good timber in a swamp.
To sell at these rain-driven highs,
your land has to be high and dry.
(10/08/21)
It's important to stay in touch
with state lawmakers.
Between 1995 and 2014, Wisconsin
forest landowners allowed
anti-forestry interest groups to
raise their property taxes 434%
-- from $7.78 per acre (which
is much higher than here in Alabama)
to $33.75 per acre. There are
special interest groups here in
Alabama that would do the same to
us. To become politically active,
consider becoming involved in
Alabama Forestry Association's
ForestPAC or
Alabama Farmers Federation's FarmPAC.
(10/07/21)
"Mississippi Forestry
Foundation's new children's book,
Family Trees, is now
available for $15 per copy plus a
flat $5 shipping fee for up to 8
books in one order! Written by MFA
staff member Lauren Hawkins,
Family Trees is the story of a
boy who grows up on a tree farm,
eventually takes over the farm, and
then teaches his children about
sustainable tree farming. In
addition to highlighting the
benefits of trees, the book also
focuses on the jobs created and
products made from the family's
trees. Order your copy today at
Family Trees."
Read book report by AFOA staff writer.
(10/06/21)
Top Ways to Lose Money Selling Land
was the topic of discussion on
Episode 91 of Huntin' Land
Podcast. Good discussion --
begins at about 5:05.
(10/05/21)
Selecting the leader of the
Bureau of Land Management is not a
big deal in Alabama, but it's a
big deal in the U.S (BLM
manages 58 million acres of
forestland in 12 western states).
So we were surprised to learn that
Alabama's Senator Tuberville chose
to be absent when votes were counted
on the appointment of Tracy
Stone-Manning, who has been
credibly accused of involvement in
an Idaho tree spiking incident.
Read comments from a New Hampshire
Tree Farmer.
Cached copy of Tree Farmer comments.
(10/04/21)
CM Biomass "plans to locate a wood
pellet plant at the port [on the
Tombigbee River] that will
create 20-25 new jobs. [Jackson]
Mayor Paul South said the city and
the industrial development board
have been working on the $17,000,000
project for eight months." Source:
The South Alabamian, 9/29/21.
CM Biomass is a Danish company.
(10/01/21)
"As
Congress considers President Biden’s
proposal to tax unrealized capital
gains at death, the history
of previous efforts suggests it
faces a perilous road ahead.
Lawmakers must resolve tricky design
and implementation details that
derailed past attempts to change how
capital gains are treated when
assets are passed from one
generation to the next." Source: Tax
Foundation, 9/28/21.
(09/30/21)
Survival Playing Cards:
Thanksgiving isn't far off, so if
you think conversations after dinner
might be difficult, why not prepare
ahead. Survival Playing Cards are a
playable survival guide. This unique
deck features 52 survival tips to
help you make it through your next
great adventure. Cost: About $17.
(09/29/21)
Braun & Gresham Attorney Chris
Bell discusses
Creative Ways to Deal with Neighbor
Disputes. Webinar: about
55 minutes.
(09/28/21)
"We are currently swimming in
wood," wrote forest economist
Brooks Mendell in Mississippi
Forestry Association's Tree Talk,
Summer 2021. "We don't need more
tree-planting subsidies,"
admonished F&W Forestry's
Marshall Thomas in
F&W Forestry Report, Spring
2020, right column, page 1. So
what do you suppose lawmakers in
Washington are proposing? You
guessed it -- a government tree
planting program: America's
Revegetation and Carbon
Sequestration Act.
Bill Summary.
Bill Text.
(09/27/21)
"Buyer demographics are trending
younger," Says Earl Musick of
United Country Musick & Sons, a
PotlatchDeltic Preferred Broker in
Idaho: "We mostly worked with
retiree buyers in the past. Now it’s
people in their late 30s to about
55." Source:
A Peek Into Fall: 6 Standout Trends
in Recreational Land,
LandThink.com, 9/7/21.
(09/24/21)
Do you plan to hunt from a tree
stand this fall? Will someone in
your family or will some of the
hunters who lease your land hunt
from a tree stand this fall? If
there was a yes in there somewhere,
please take a minute and a half to
watch the National Deer
Association's short video on the
A-B-C-Ds of Treestand Safety.
(09/23/21)
Tall Timbers Research Station,
"home of the study of fire ecology,"
publishes eNews
quarterly (Summer/Fall
2021 and
archived collection) and
Quail Call: Quail Research Report
(20+
years archive). If you want to
learn more about prescribed burning
and/or quail management, Tall
Timbers offers serious expertise.
(09/22/21)
"Based on announced sawmill builds
and expansions, the U.S. South could
add an additional four billion board
feet of softwood sawmill capacity by
2022." Source: Forisk
Blog by Amanda Lang, 9/15/21.
(09/21/21)
Should you sell your land and
timber together, or should you
harvest the timber before you sell
the land? Dave and Johnny
discuss that question during the
last five minutes of
Episode 292 of The Land Show.
(09/20/21)
Would you like to know what the
folks at Auburn University's School
of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences
have been up to lately? An
archive of the School's triannual
newsletters is available at
https://sfws.auburn.edu/newsletter-archive/.
(09/17/21)
"Bird
migration forecast maps show
predicted nocturnal migration
3 hours after local sunset and are
updated every 6 hours. Colorado
State University and the Cornell Lab
of Ornithology currently produce
these forecasts." Editor's note:
They're quite small, but we suppose
the chimney swifts that grew up in
our old chimney in Helena, Alabama
will soon be lighting up the map as
they head south to Peru, South
America.
(09/16/21)
Stepped-Up Basis: "Biden’s
proposal to end a tax break on
inheritances known as 'step-up in
basis,' which wipes out the capital
gains tax on assets, was not
included in the House bill; Senate
Finance Chair Ron Wyden (OR) hopes
to include it still, but opposition
in the House means he is unlikely to
succeed. This is a positive
development, especially for
family-owned companies and small
businesses." 1031 Like-Kind
Exchanges: "These were not
included in the House bill and are
unlikely to be included in the
Senate, meaning the existing program
would remain as-is." Source:
National Alliance of Forest Owners,
House Budget Reconciliation
Legislation Update, 9/16/21.
(09/15/21)
Latest proposed top federal Capital
Gains Tax Rate is now 25 percent
plus 3 percent surcharge and
3.8 percent net investment income
tax. Source: Tax Foundation,
9/14/21.
(09/14/21)
Wood Handbook: Wood as an
Engineering Material is
a 500+ page resource published by
the Forest Products Lab. It will be
useful to anyone who would like to
know more about using wood --
furniture makers, builders,
architects, etc.
(09/13/21)
To prevent timber theft, you should:
-
Visit your property
frequently.
-
Have someone you know and trust
report any cutting on your land immediately.
-
Never sign a contract without
checking several references of the buyer.
-
For the best price, insist on
getting bids for your timber.
-
Mark all property lines to assure
cutting on adjacent property does not encroach on
yours.
-
Utilize trail/deer cameras on
your property that can record suspicious activity or
individuals.
-
Always hold your timber
contractor to the agreed upon terms.
Source: Pleasanton Express, 9/8/21
(09/10/21)
What Should You Ask a Consulting
Forester? Joe Baya,
Huntin' Land podcast, August 12,
2021, leads Forest Appraiser Denson
Helms through a great discussion on
how and why a forest landowner
should use the expertise of a
consulting forester. Audio: about
1 hour or save 8+ minutes by sliding
to 8:50. Worth your time if you are
thinking of hiring a consulting
forester. Find a consulting forester
at
www.ForesterSearch.com.
"Transcript" of the podcast appeared
in the
November 2021 issue of Great Days
Outdoors, pages 58-61.
(09/09/21)
Check out a new video on the
identification, history and control
of kudzu created by Clemson
Extension. Kudzu is a prolific
invasive species throughout the U.S.
Originally introduced in the 1870s
as an ornamental plant, people then
tried to use it for erosion control.
Unfortunately its rapid spread soon
earned it the name: “the plant that
ate the south."
(09/07/21)
"According to the July LandThink
Pulse results, 38.1% of
respondents indicated that they
would prefer to purchase rural land
for sale that was located in the
Southeast region of the U.S."
(09/03/21)
Two stories in the news:
(09/02/21)
Storm Damage and Salvage Safety
Video from
Forest Resources Association was
produced to help professional
loggers avoid injury while cleaning
up after tornadoes and hurricanes.
If there is someone in your family
who is likely to be doing some
clean-up work this weekend, you
might want to watch this video
together. Good luck.
(09/01/21)
Little Timber Damage from
Hurricane Ida: The Alabama
Forestry Commission reported today
that they have not heard any reports
of storm damage to any large
forested areas. Their Mobile County
office said there was "wide-spread
damage from tornadoes," but not
enough to merit an aerial survey.
We'll update this article if future
AFC reports indicate significant
damage somewhere in the state. If
you suspect your timber may have
been damaged by the storm, this may
be a good time to ask your
consulting forester to do a damage
assessment. If you don't have a
consulting forester, find one at
www.ForesterSearch.com. If you
need tax advice to help you deduct
storm damage losses, a list of
forestry tax experts has been posted
to the web,
here.
(08/31/21)
How about some good news on this
rainy Tuesday?
Wellborn Cabinet in Clay County
[broke ground earlier] this month on
a $15 million expansion, projected
to add another 200 jobs. The
manufacturer of kitchen and bath
cabinets [many of them made from
Alabama grown hardwoods], a mainstay
of the economy in Ashland since
1961, already employs about 1,400
people. Source: AL.com,
8/20/21.
(08/30/21)
Aunt Fanny Asks About Forest Carbon
is a new episode of Brooks Mendell's
Aunt Fanny series.
o
Aunt Fanny Learns Forestry
The Book, $12
o
Aunt Fanny Analyzes Her Timber
Market
o
Aunt Fanny Asks About Bare Land
Value (BLV)
o
Aunt Fanny Asks About Timber Taxes
o
Aunt Fanny Asks About Forest
Rotations and Financial Maturity
o
Aunt Fanny Asks About Forestland
Appreciation
o
Aunt Fanny Asks About Timberland
Returns
o
Aunt Fanny Thins Her Forest
o
Aunt Fanny Asks About Cash Flow
o
Aunt Fanny Asks About Timber Prices
o
Aunt Fanny Tours Her Forest
(08/27/21)
Do carbon payments do anything to
solve the carbon dioxide problem or
are they just a form of
greenwashing? Ryan Dezember,
the Wall Street Journal
writer who has written a number of
forestry-related articles in the
past year or two discusses the issue
on The Journal podcast with
host Kate Linebaugh. Audio about
15 minutes - with transcript if you
can't listen. Greenwash:
disinformation disseminated by an
organization so as to present an
environmentally responsible public
image.
(08/26/21)
How to Get Rid of Armadillos
is an interesting article in
Great Days Outdoors , August
2021, by David Strickland. Turn
to page 26.
(08/24/21)
"In reality, wildfires in the
West aren’t evidence of a lack of
funds, forest mismanagement, or
climate change. They happen
because the West is a fire plain,
and, just as a flood plain floods, a
fire plain is going to burn. For as
long as we’ve kept records, about
one-half to one percent of the West
burns each year, and nothing we can
do is going to stop it." For an
interesting discussion on western
forest fires, read Randle O'Toole's
"The West Is a Fire Plain. Get Over
It." Liberty and Ecology
Blog, 8/23/21.
O'Toole spoke to AFOA in July of
2013.
(08/23/21)
It all adds up. If you are
looking for something to discuss
with your children or grandchildren
during your next visit, read
The Simple Math of How to Retire
with Millions by Kurt
Rotthoff, Foundation for Economic
Education, 8/21/21.
(08/20/21)
The Sandhill Crane hunting season
presents an interesting new
opportunity for landowners in the
Tennessee Valley and the Weiss
Reservoir on the Coosa River.
Hunters will begin registering to
win the 400 hunting permits on
September 8. The hunting season is
split into two segments: December 3
to January 9 and January 17 - 31.
AFOA members can find interested
hunters by listing land for lease at
www.HuntingLand.bz.
(08/19/21)
Home Power magazine provided
information on powering up remote,
off-grid property. An
archive of 31 years of the magazine
is available at no cost, but you
have to register to access the mags.
(08/18/21)
Are No Till Food Plots Worth It?
Listen to wildlife biologist
Dr. Grant Woods describe the
pros and cons of using no-till
technology to install and maintain
game food plots. Huntin' Land
Podcast #87, 7/29/21. Audio
about 1 hour.
(08/17/21)
Boundary Line Issues: "Where
does one property begin and another
end? It seems like a simple
question, because most landowners
have a sense about where their land
starts and ends. But over a period
of years, neighbors can develop
vastly different interpretations as
to where the boundary line exists."
Listen to Pat Porter, Broker,
RecLand Realty, discuss problems and
solutions on LandThink.com,
8/10/21. About 4 minutes.
(08/16/21)
"With stumpage prices seemingly
stuck at historically low levels,
many southern timberland owners are
asking the obvious question: Why
continue growing timber at all?"
Joe Clark discusses opportunities in
his 7/26/21 blog:
Creative Markets & Opportunities for
Southern Timberland Owners.
(08/13/21)
"The
U.S. is the largest lumber market in
the world and is very dependent on
imported lumber. Imports
have consistently accounted for
about 30% of consumption over the
past 10 years." Source: Global
Lumber Supply to Shift,
building-products.com, 8/10/21.
(08/11/21)
Online Master of Forest Business &
Investment Degree is now being
offered by Auburn University.
Collaboratively taught with Auburn
University’s Raymond J. Harbert
College of Business and the School
of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences,
"this non-thesis master’s program
enables non-traditional students in
Alabama and beyond to conveniently
acquire these specialized skills
from a top-ranking university with
minimal disruption to their home
life and current employment."
(08/10/21)
The US Sawmill: How Hardwood Lumber
is Made is a 9-minute video
produced by Banks Hardwoods. Since
their mills are located in Michigan
and Wisconsin, there will be
references to cold weather,
otherwise the lumber making
technology is similar to that used
in Alabama and the South. Hardwood
lumber is in demand and hardwood
stumpage prices have been very good
in Alabama for the past several
years.
Hardwood pulpwood and oak sawtimber
prices reported by TimberMart-South,
2Q21, can be found in the top left
corner of page 2 of AFOA's July
newsletter, Capital Ideas.
(08/09/21)
Preppers - a never-ending variety,
from being self-sufficient,
'Preppers' Quietly Stock Up For The
'Perfect Storm', Zero
Hedge, 8/6/21, to "looking for a
hedge if things get bad,"
Weathering A Social Storm…In Style,
Forbes, 7/30/21.
(08/06/21)
Your Final Harvest is Complete: So,
What's Next? Tom Brant from
Clemson University answers some
frequently asked questions. For
most forest owners in the South, the
automatic answer of the past has
been to plant pines, but many of us
are thinking twice before giving all
our land to Mr. Pine. We may let Mr.
Oak climb a little further up the
hills than in the past. See:
Managing Stands of Mixed Pine &
Hardwoods, John Willis. See
also:
Managing for Quality Hardwoods,
Callie Schweitzer.
(08/05/21)
"Firefighters
in France are using a balloon to
spot forest fires as soon as they
start," reports Euronews,
8/2/21. A camera mounted on a
tethered balloon almost 2,000 feet
in the air "that can automatically
detect fires within minutes of them
starting and alert nearby
firefighters" is being tested
in the French city of Marseilles.
(08/04/21)
12 Steps for Building a Bridge:
NWOA's Wednesday Woodland
Word, 8/4/21, featured a story
from MyFarmLife.com on building a
simple wood bridge for ATVs, wheel
barrows and lawn mowers. Detailed
plans are provided.
(08/03/21)
Why the Middle Class Should Start
Paying Attention to the Death Tax.
Currently, estates valued at less
than $11.58 million are exempt from
the death tax in the US tax code.
That may soon change. Source:
Foundation for Economic Education,
7/28/21. See also:
New CTUP Study: Biden’s Double Death
Tax Destroys Up to a Million Jobs,
Costs the Economy $10,000 Per
Household. Source: Committee
to Unleash Prosperity, 7/27/21.
(08/02/21)
So,... you don't like the
vaccination or mask rules in your
part of the world. We wonder
what you'd think about the forcible
conscription - press-ganging - of
civilians to fight forest fires, as
was done in British Columbia as
recently as the '60s. Read:
How the government can still
forcibly conscript you to fight
forest fires, National
Post, 7/22/21.
(07/30/21)
Feral Hog Traps: Even if you
don't have feral hogs on your
property, we think watching these
videos will hold your attention.
Cell phone triggered trap.
Pig Brig trap (net) (read the
comments under the video). Also,
for information on the
Alabama Feral Swine Control Program,
click here and
here.
(07/29/21)
In a recent episode of the
National Deer Association's Deer
Season 365 podcast, Brian
Grossman talked with Mark Olis of
Moultrie Mobile about the benefits
of cellular trail-cameras, some
tips for getting maximum performance
from your cellular trail cams,
as well as some trail-camera
strategy. Mark also discusses some
of the very cool new features of the
Moultrie Mobile app.
Scroll to about the 25 minute mark
in the podcast to focus on the
cellular connected cameras and the
mobile app.
(07/28/21)
Timber Market Update: Forest
Management Specialists sent us a
fairly optimistic timber market
update today. If you think it might
be time for you to put some of your
timber up for sale, find a
consulting forester who seeks work
in your county at
www.ForesterSearch.com. Forest
Management Specialists' contact
information is included on the
search website
here.
(07/27/21)
The native common elderberry
(Sambucus canadensis) is
"high in antioxidents, vitamin C,
vitamin A, bioflavonoids, beta
carotene, iron, phosphorus and
potassium. Although long used
medicinally and in many other ways
by Native Americans and rural
dwellers, there is a renewed
interest in its use as an antiviral
and anti-inflammatory agent."
Source:
Alabama Gardener by Lois
Chaplin, Neighbors, July 2021.
(07/26/21)
If you have coal on your land, don't
give up hope. “Coal prices
have climbed to their highest level
in a decade, making the fuel a hot
commodity in a year when governments
are pledging reductions in carbon
emissions…. Prices for thermal
coal—which power plants burn to boil
water into steam, spin turbines and
generate electricity—have more than
doubled over the past year as a
result." Source: The Wall Street
Journal as quoted by the
Committee to Unleash Prosperity
(CTUP), 7/13/21.
Subscribe to free CTUP daily news
commentary here.
(07/23/21)
"Ozark Forest Mushrooms harvests
between 100 and 500 pounds of
mushrooms a week year-round, and
drives them to St. Louis where they
are sold wholesale to restaurants
and specialty grocery stores for $10
a pound and for a couple of bucks
more at farmers markets." Source:
St. Louis Public Radio,
7/19/21.
(07/22/21)
Forest and small business owner,
Allen McBride, describes business
survival skills needed in
era of increasing taxes. Source:
National Federation of Independent
Business, 6/21/21. You may have
crossed through McBride's Camp Mac
if you've ever driven the windy road
from Talladega heading up the
mountain to Cheaha State Park.
(07/21/21)
Trail cameras have been banned in
Arizona. Read an article from an
Arkansas perspective,
Arizona trail cam ban cautionary
tale for Arkansas, and
listen to a podcast,
The Politics of Trail Cameras,
from CFACT with Gabriella Hoffman
and Trent Marsh. Slide to minute
22:47 to 31:07. "Besides
Arizona, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and
Nevada restrict the use of trail
cameras during hunting season."
These stories are hard to believe.
(07/20/21)
Do you need help controlling
beavers or coyotes or some other
animal pest on your land? Read
more about
Nuisance Animal Control on the
Alabama Conservation Department
website.
Click here for a list of nuisance
animal control experts on
Alabama Trappers and Predator
Control Association website.
List on ADCNR website.
(07/19/21)
Absentee Landowners: Spot canopy
changes on your land when trees have
been removed (new roads, timber
harvesting - theft? sale?, new
greenfields, etc.). HuntStand Pro
now provides a monthly satellite
imagery update which can alert
you to timber theft and other canopy
change surprises. Open
https://huntstand.com/pro/ and
scroll down to "Monthly Satellite
Imagery." While we would like the
imagery to be sharper, this new
service is a huge first step towards
obtaining real-time information
about your land. AFOA members
receive a 20% discount when
purchasing from a desktop or a
laptop. Discount code: AFOA20.
(07/16/21)
The National Rifle Association
may have dropped their support for
the Biden administration's 30 x 30
program, and, if so, we commend them
for it.
See 7/8/21, below. Yesterday
AFOA received the following
message from American Stewards of
Liberty.
We just had a call from one of our readers who had
called NRA to cancel her membership because they
support 30 x 30. Whomever she talked to said that is
not their position.
We checked the link to their statement, which is now
missing. Here is the original link. You now see a
"Sorry, the requested page is not available."
https://www.nrahlf.org/articles/2021/6/24/nra-joins-hunt-fish-30x30-to-conserve-30-of-lands-and-waters-by-2030/
However, the
"Hunt & Fish 30 x 30" document still lists the NRA
Hunters Leadership Forum and NRA Institute for
Legislative Action as supporting the effort.
[scroll down
for list of supporters; AFOA has a copy of this
webpage in case it should be deleted in the future]
So, it appears they have changed their position, which
is a huge win for landowners.
Thanks for your help on this.
(07/15/21)
Morgan Stanley answers questions
about the Biden Tax Proposal.
- Will my federal income and
capital-gains tax rates change?
- What is the proposed change
to federal capital-gains taxes on inherited assets?
- Would the proposed reforms
limit how much wealth I can give away free of
federal estate and gift taxes?
(07/14/21)
Solar Farm in Butler County:
For those of you who worry that
Alabama might be following Texas
into a brown-out phase of power
generation, this AL.com
article,
Alabama Power receives approval for
Butler County solar facility,
might give pause for thought. At the
level of technology we are at today
with batteries and solar collectors,
we suspect that the land area that
will be dedicated to solar power
production could produce a lot more
usable energy if it
were used to grow fuel wood,
constantly and forever (even
though fuel wood would likely not be
the best forest product that could
be produced on the land). And …
the electricity generated from fuel
wood could be produced 24/7/365 with
technology that exists today. Just
sayin'.
(07/13/21)
We were surprised when we
added up the number of AFOA members
who bought the
Huntstand Pro map sharing
and property owners app using
AFOA's 20 percent discount. Less
than 2 dozen of you are on the list.
We know people who bought the app
using their smartphone or tablet,
and suspect they didn't receive the
discount because that method of
purchase doesn't allow the buyer to
give the discount code, AFOA20
(all caps). We suggest you
buy it from your desktop or laptop
computer, since you will then have
the opportunity to input the
discount code.
Read more about
the app.
(07/12/21)
Is there a difference? We're
not lawyers, so there are probably a
million legal reasons why it's OK
for a game warden to enter private
property without the owner's
permission, but now, after a U.S.
Supreme Court decision, it's not OK
for union organizers to enter a
private workplace without the
owner's permission. Source:
Supreme Court Upholds Landowner's
Right to Exclude, Liberty
Matters News Service, 7/6/21.
Be sure to see Pacific Legal
Foundation's report.
Also read
related story below.
(07/09/21)
During a recent
Carbon Program for Hardwood
Landowners webinar on June 15, 2021,
a number of questions were posted
for future follow-up.
The questions and answers are
available here. Source:
Wednesday Woodland Word, 7/7/21.
(07/08/21)
The National Rifle Association has
put itself on record as being in
support of the Biden
administration's 30 x 30 program,
according to Liberty Matters News
Service, 7/6/21. About 10 years
ago the
NRA supported using state funds to
purchase hunting land in Alabama.
Would it be fair to suspect that
the leadership of the NRA, both in
Alabama and at the National level,
lack faith in the ability of private
landowners and the free market
system to provide their members with
hunting opportunities?
See Gov. Ivey's
reaction to 30 x 30.
(07/07/21)
"Almost
nobody wants to raise the estate tax,"
especially when they take into
consideration that an increase might
cause job losses. Source: Kudlow,
Fox Business News, 7/6/21. See
graphs, Capital Gains Tax at 5:34,
and Estate Tax at 6:24. Video is 9
minutes long.
(07/06/21)
Labor Shortage Impacting Timber
Sales and Harvesting: A few
quotes from F&W Market Update,
7/1/21:
o "...because of
the trucking shortage, they’re
looking close in harder than
ever..."
o "...logging
shortage, trucking shortage, and
related labor shortages are
impacting..."
o "...reluctant
to strongly pursue timber sales in
many situations..."
o "...not sawing
what they could due to a lack of
personnel."
(07/02/21)
"I have absolutely no idea whether
our tax returns and our tax payments
are accurate," wrote Former
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
to the IRS on April 15, 2014.
Rumsfeld died Wednesday at the age
of 83.
(07/01/21)
Be careful if you're planning to
celebrate the Fourth by shooting
tracer ammunition or incendiary
rounds. "Those will cause fire
almost every time if they land in
receptive fuels. And sometimes
people use
exploding targets. These are
made of ammonium nitrate and
aluminum powder and they blow up
when hit by a bullet." We lifted
these comments from a dry Utah radio
station (KUER
90.1), so you probably won't
cause a wildfire in wet Alabama...
but it could happen. Be careful.
(06/30/21)
Forest Economist Jack Lutz discusses
the Southern Timberland Index
in this quarter's Forest Research
Notes. The Southern Timberland
Index "allows timberland owners in
the South to estimate how the value
of their timberland is performing
compared to an average southern
timberland property." In the
discussion he mentions the
NCREIF Timberland Index (NCREIF
= National Council of Real Estate
Investment Fiduciaries), and he
refers to
an earlier report in 2016 on the
Southern Timberland Index.
(06/29/21)
Have you taken on debt to invest?
We suspect that most forest owners
won't find themselves in too much
trouble here, but you may have
family members who need your advice.
View
graph here ("Gen Z and
Millennials—just one bear market
away from bankruptcy") from
Powerline Blog, The Geek
in Pictures: Summer Solstice Edition,
6/24/21. Scroll down to the
15th graph/chart.
(06/28/21)
Southern Pine Beetles -- and
other insects and diseases -- are
mapped by the Alabama Forestry
Commission. Rangers crisscross
each county in light aircraft
marking beetle infestations on a
map. Beetle monitoring flights will
begin soon. Infestations will be
posted on the
AFC website at this link:
Insect and Disease Map.
Zoom in to see exact locations.
Satellite imagery layers are
available in the menus. Check back
about once a week for updates.
(06/25/21)
"...you
even want to buy rural land in front
of major demographic moves in the
US..." Source:
Hayman Capital's Kyle Bass on
CNBC's Closing Bell,
as quoted by Zero Hedge,
6/25/21.
(06/24/21)
Is Fed Bringing About Another
Housing Bubble?
In an online analysis, CNN (6/19,
Egan) said that even with home
prices that are climbing at the
quickest “pace on record, the
Federal Reserve continues to prop up
the housing market by purchasing $40
billion of mortgage bonds each
month.” Though the Fed was at last
“‘talking about talking about’
removing some of its support, some
fear the US central bank is creating
another housing bubble as it
deliberates.” CNN added, “That’s
because the Fed’s emergency strategy
is artificially lowering the cost of
mortgages, and further boosting
prices that already looked stretched
in many markets.” Source: NFIB
Small Business Weekly, 6/22/21.
(06/22/21)
Wood pellet industry not causing
overharvest of our forestland.
"The growth of the forest products
industry, including the wood pellet
sector, continues to create new
demand for biomass, which has
resulted in an increase, rather than
a reduction, in forest inventory. In
other words, healthy demand is
driving reforestation, not
deforestation across the US South."
Read more:
New Markets for Wood Products Help
Preserve Forests for Future
Generations by Larry
Sullivan, F2M Blog, 6/21/21.
(06/21/21)
Common insect pests of trees in
Tennessee (and Alabama, too,
sometimes)
is the topic covered by Dr. David
Mercker in this recent episode of
Back Porch Forestry.
Tree Insects: Something Old
Something New.
(06/18/21)
The June 2021 issue of
Mississippi State's
The Overstory newsletter
contains a Timber Price Report
that may be interesting to AFOA
members with land in west Alabama
and Mississippi. Oak sawtimber:
$39.38 per ton.
(06/17/21)
"How to Make Oak Trees Produce More
Acorns for Deer. It's Not What You
Might Think." Source:
National Deer Association Video with
Lindsay Thomas, Jr. About 3
minutes.
(06/16/21)
A Hunter's Perspective:
Forest owners who allow hunters to
hunt on their land may find it
useful to learn what a hunter thinks
is important to discuss with
non-hunters. Read
What I Learned From Talking to
Non-Hunters by Zack
Vucurevich, National Deer
Association, 6/9/21.
(06/15/21)
GIFT TAX: "In 2021, you can give
any amount up to $15,000 per person
per year with no gift tax liability.
However, gifts exceeding that amount
are counted against a gift tax
exemption of $11,700,000 and are
subject to gift tax." Source:
DeLoach, Barber & Caspers, P.C.
Newsletter, June 2021.
(06/14/21)
INFLATION! Focusing on the
Consumer Price Index (an indicator
of inflation), our sarcastic and
cynical friend at
PowerLine Blog, Steven
Hayward, said this on June 10:
"With today’s bad inflation number,
here’s what the trend looks like —
but not to worry, I’m sure it’s
nothing, and I’m sure the Biden
Administration and the Fed are on
it."
AFOA's question to forest owners: Is
this a good time to be invested in
productive timberland, gold,
Bitcoin, stocks, or cash under the
mattress?
(06/11/21)
Buy, Borrow, Die: "Using that
strategy, wealthy households
purchase assets that appreciate
(increase in value), and then borrow
money against their assets to
consume their wealth without paying
tax. When the household passes away,
the assets with unrealized gains
escape taxation due to step-up in
basis, which removes the unrealized
gain and associated tax liability
for the heirs." Source:
Taxing Consumption Progressively Is
a Better Way to Tax the Wealthy,
Tax Foundation, 6/8/21. Editor's
request: If you can describe a "Buy,
Borrow, Die" scenario that has
actually worked for you or a client,
please send a note to
RLL@AFOA.org. See also:
Tax Planning 101: Buy, Borrow, Die.
(06/10/21)
Black Walnut management videos
(free) and a book ($15) are
available from the Walnut Council.
The video topics include pruning,
thinning, soils & sites, and markets.
The book is
Black Walnut: The History, Use and
Unrealized Potential of a Unique
American Renewable Resource
by Walnut Council member Bob
Chenoweth.
(06/09/21)
"The Associated Press (AP) ...
recently published [an article]
largely critical of the wood pellet
industry. Sadly, [The AP did]
not provide a full-spectrum view of
the forest supply chain or the
environmental benefits of
sustainably managed forest
resources." Read more:
Inaccurate Portrayals of Forestry &
Wood Biomass Persist by
Larry Sullivan, F2M Blog,
6/9/21.
(06/08/21)
If Alabama state employee and
teacher pensions are underfunded
because of lack of legislative
support or because of poor
investment strategies, where do
you think lawmakers will look for
funds when the money runs out?
The Tax Foundation recently asked
the question, "How
Well-Funded Are Pension Plans in
Your State?" Alabama's state
pensions are not in as bad a
condition as New Jersey's (only 36%
funded) and not as good as South
Dakota's (99% funded). Did we
hear someone say "Property Taxes"?
(06/07/21)
CBS News reported from Vestavia
Hills, Alabama on the high lumber
prices and their effect on
new home costs. The reporter
failed to report on low stumpage
rates -- the amounts paid to
landowners for their trees.
(06/04/21)
"Since
COVID-19 struck in the early days of
March 2020, the number of people
swapping city life for country
living has risen. According
to the April LandThink Pulse
results, 77.6% of respondents
believe that the migration of people
from big cities and metropolitan
areas to rural locations will
continue post-pandemic." Source:
LandThink.com, 5/18/21.
Editor's note: I suspect that the
majority of respondents to the
survey were rural real estate
agents. Just a guess. Someone will
probably set me straight soon.
(06/03/21)
The Hurricane Michael [and Lee
County tornadoes] Block Grant
will provide $10 million in
financial relief to qualifying
non-industrial private forest
landowners of Alabama with a
one-time payment. Eligible citizens
must own timber in the following
counties: Barbour, Bullock,
Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale,
Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston,
Lee, Montgomery, Pike, or Russell.
Read
Alabama Forestry Commission Press
Release and
Eligibility Requirements and Sign-Up
Procedure.
(06/02/21)
The Biden administration wants to
impose capital gains taxes on the
growth in value of estates "when
assets transfer ownership at death."
They would do this by repealing the
step-up in basis that currently
applies to estates. For example: Joe
bought 400 acres of forestland at
$50 per acre back in 1970. Joe dies
in 2021 after the capital gains tax
rate is raised to 43.4 percent and
step-up in basis is repealed.
He leaves the land, now worth $3,000
per acre, to his daughter. He had no
other assets. The estate must pay
43.4 percent of the $1,180,000
capital gain ($1,200,000 minus
$20,000) resulting in a tax lien on
the estate of $512,120. The land, or
at least the timber, may have to be
sold to pay the tax. Fortunately for
forest landowners, we are not facing
this dilemma alone. Small business
owners face similar and maybe even
worse situations. Read:
Over 120 Associations Join Coalition
to Support Continuation of
Stepped-up Basis, NFIB,
5/25/21. Editor's note: We are
not tax advisors, just speculators.
Read more on Stepped-up Basis and
Family Forests by Tom Straka.
(06/01/21)
After reading an interesting story
about wooden toothpicks,
A tiny Maine town was once the
'toothpick capital of the world',
Bangor Daily News, 5/24/21,
we learned that some toothpicks are
still being made in the U.S.,
Penley, for example.
Editor's note: You may see some
rather aggressive and deceiving ads
from Penley's Chinese competitors
when reading these stories. Or have
we been deceived?
(05/28/21)
Simply Southern TV Episode 708
features the
Learn and Burn program.
Learn and Burn events are a great
way to be introduced to prescribed
burning. Attendees are given
hands-on opportunities to set back
fires and try out some of the tools
used by prescribed burners. Lee
and Eyvon from AFOA's office
participated a couple of years ago
and thought it was a great
experience.
(05/27/21)
Northern Woodlands shared
a refreshing forestry family story
today. We think you will enjoy
meeting
Mary Hull: at Home and at Work in
the Woods.
(05/26/21)
Wild Turkeys: An Alabama
Extension System recorded webinar,
Wild Turkey Mortality: Populations,
Predators, & Disease,
and a South Carolina DNR research
report,
Collaborative Research on the Future
of Wild Turkeys, both
landed in AFOA's mailbox this week.
We hope you find them useful.
(05/25/21)
Deducting business-related vehicle
expenses is one of the
topics covered in DeLoach, Barber &
Caspers, PC, Certified Public
Accountants, May Newsletter.
Depending on how you, as a forest
landowner, are viewed by the IRS,
you may or may not be allowed to
deduct mileage or vehicle expenses.
Be sure to clear it with your
personal accountant before going to
a lot of trouble.
(05/24/21)
Forest landowners can now
participate in forest carbon markets
via short-term timber harvest
deferral agreements (watch
the May 6 Florida Land Stewardship
webinar).
SilviaTerra's program asks the
landowner to defer harvest for one
year on mature timber and pays for
the costs of delaying the harvest.
See Forisk's
analysis, below, to estimate the
cost of delaying the harvest and,
thus, arriving at an estimate of the
amount that should be paid by the
carbon renter.
(05/21/21)
"Practical, Helpful."
Property Lines, Fences, & the Law
is a seminar (video) presented by
D. Mitchell Henry, J.D. and
produced by the Alabama Cooperative
Extension System.
(05/20/21)
"'We'll get you again': Victim of
timber theft warns thieves across
Tennessee," reported WKRN
News 2 Plus in Nashville on May
8, 2021. Landowners whose trees have
been stolen in Alabama should report
thefts to their local sheriff or the
Alabama Law Enforcement Rural Crime
Unit. Based on reports AFOA
has received from landowners during
past few years, don't expect much
help from either of those sources.
(05/19/21)
"Why Invest in Timberland?
The fact that makes timberland real
estate an attractive option is that
trees grow physically. Moreover,
past records have proved that
timberland returns can be as good as
those from equity investments. The
added advantage is, it comes with
lesser risk." Read more on
The Basics of Timberland Real
Estate Investing by
Christian Saunders, LandThink,
5/11/21.
(05/18/21)
Wouldn't it be nice ... if an
Alabama law firm were to conduct a
training session for landowners
entitled,
Tips for Navigating Property Tax
Protests? It would be
especially nice, if an Alabama law
firm, or perhaps a loosely knit
collection of firms, were to provide
a low-cost service which would
represent landowners who have valid
property tax complaints. Watch Texas
law firm Braun & Gresham's recorded
Tips and give us suggestions
on how we might produce a similar
program for Alabama. Please give
us the name of someone who could
teach such a class.
(05/17/21)
"Because birds use a variety
of forest types and conditions,
management prescriptions intended to
benefit birds can be complicated."
Learn more from a new booklet:
Bird Friendly Forests: Opportunities
for Private Forest Owners in the
Southeastern U.S.
(05/14/21)
Makers Mark is working with the
University of Kentucky to make
sure they don't run out of quality
white oak trees used to make their
bourbon barrels. Source:
Lexington Herald Leader, 5/10/21
(05/13/21)
Do you jointly own your
forestland with siblings or cousins?
If yes, you may enjoy listening to
From Partners by Chance to Partners
by Choice: Building Trust-based
Partnerships with Siblings and
Cousins, a webinar
produced by
The Family Business Consulting Group.
(05/12/21)
"West
Fraser Timber Co., the world’s
biggest lumber producer, plans to
expand capacity at five of its
lumber mills in the U.S. South.
Interfor Corp. is rebuilding a
sawmill in Georgia that is on track
for completion by the end of 2021.
Both companies expect home-building
and renovation demand to continue
supporting strong prices for wood
products in the near future."
Source: Bloomberg, 5/6/21
(05/11/21)
Population Change. You may
have invested in your forestland
hoping one day to develop it into
home sites or business lots. Others
may own forestland in undeveloped
areas of the state and hope no one
will ever move to their neck of the
woods. Whichever hat you wear, you
will likely find interesting
AL.com's May 8, 2021 article,
Alabama's fastest growing and
fastest shrinking counties from 2019
to 2020.
(05/10/21)
Brooks Mendell, forest industry
analyst, sheds light on
"voluntary short-term 'rental'
program" in
Break-Even Analysis for Forest
Carbon Contracts. So, if
you delay harvest on one acre for
one year in order to rent its
carbon, you'll lose about $10 (see
graph). Therefore, you should rent
the carbon for at least $10.
Easy-peasy.
(05/07/21)
If you have an interest in gopher
tortoises, we think you will find
this 4-minute video interesting:
How Foresters Protect Gopher
Tortoise Burrows. We thought
Rayonier's idea of leaving high
stumps to mark burrows a useful
heads-up tool (scroll to about
2:05 if you're in a hurry).
(05/06/21)
"Few Specifics" offered on whose
land will be taken when the 30
by 30 plan is activated. Would it be
wrong to guess that targeted lands
will be near national forests like
the Bankhead or Talladega, or near
federal wildlife refuges like the
Cahaba River or the Eufaula? Read
Conserving and Restoring America the
Beautiful (Cached
Copy), commentary in The
Washington Post, 5/6/21:
A narrow path for Biden's
ambitious land conservation plan,
and a DOI News Release:
Biden-Harris Administration Outlines
"America the Beautiful" Initiative.
(05/05/21)
Roots and Branches -- Tree growth
characteristics are
discussed in a new "Back Porch
Forestry" by Dr. David
Mercker, University of
Tennessee. He has also recently
published
Firewood Harvesting as a Forest
Management Tool.
Click here for the entire collection
of Back Porch Forestry.
(05/04/21)
A time lapse of Google Earth
aerial images of Alabama "shows
something special: forests as a
renewable resource. Large tracts
of land turn brown immediately after
harvest, but just as quickly
re-green as the forest grows back.
Active forest management helps
maintain forests as a sustainable
industry.
Click here to see 35 years of
sustainable forestry in 10 seconds!"
Source: National Association of
State Foresters Weekly Newsletter,
4/23/21.
(05/03/21)
F&W Market Update
reported Friday that in Florida
many sawmills will no longer take
sawlogs larger than 18 inches in
diameter at the butt. The Update
also reported that fire
"devastated the East Alabama Lumber
Company sawmill on April 22.
(04/30/21)
If you're thinking about
harvesting timber on your land,
you need to find out what some of
the experts are telling the loggers.
Timber Harvesting Guidelines for
Forestry Best Management Practices
by Richard Cristan and Carey Potter
is full of information that will
help you and your forester spell out
your requirements for maintaining
clean water on your land.
A PDF version is available as
well as a link to
Alabama's Best Management Practices
for Forestry.
Assistant Professor Cristan
assisted with the demonstration of
the portable sawmill at our Annual
Meeting at the 4-H Center.
(04/29/21)
"Property taxes are generally the
most hated of all taxes," wrote
Jonathan Williams in
The Heartland Property-Tax Rebellion,
National Review, 4/26/21.
While property
taxes have been reasonable in
Alabama, appraisals of
forestland are frequently
inconsistent between counties and
even within counties. We think you
will find Williams' discussion
interesting.
(04/28/21)
Fence It Right The First Time:
Adverse Possession in Alabama
by John Allen Nichols, Neighbors,
April 2021.
(04/26/21)
"As a forest landowner, one of
the most important questions you
must answer is when to conduct a
harvest. How you make that
decision can involve several factors
specific to your circumstances and
objectives."
Read more from Cut or Wait
Decision-Making for Landowners
by Shaun Tanger, Mississippi State
University.
(04/23/21)
"Biden Eyeing Tax Rate as High as
43.4% in Next Economic Package."
Source: Bloomberg, 4/22/21.
Read commentary on the proposed
increase from Daniel J. Mitchell,
4/23/21, here.
Editor's Note: Of course, most
forest owners won't make million
dollar timber sales, but we suspect
the proposed rate changes will reach
down to affect many more than a few
at the top.
(04/22/21)
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a
letter yesterday with 14 other
governors objecting to policies that
would increase federal ownership
and/or control of land.
"Fifteen Governors signed a joint
letter notifying President Biden
that section 216 of the Climate
Crisis Executive Order (14008), to
conserve 30 percent of America’s
lands by 2030, 'infringes on the
sovereignty of the states and rights
of the citizens.'" Source:
Liberty Matters News Service,
4/21/21.
(04/21/21)
"Tight Supplies and Higher Prices
for Softwood Lumber Has China
Looking at Alternative Solutions,"
reports Forest Economic Advisors
(FEA), 4/20/21. The last sentence in
FEA's brief International Markets
article reads: "There are several
solutions emerging in China, and one
of the most practical options is
using imported softwood logs to
produce lumber products by Chinese
domestic sawmills."
(04/20/21)
"A FEW SPOTS AVAILABLE." "Live Fire
Event." "Interactive Field Day in
Walker County." The Alabama
Forestry Foundation and Tree Farm
are doing a Learn and Burn Live Fire
Event in Walker County one day
during the week of April 26-30.
(04/19/21)
In a recent study published in the
journal Forests,
John Willis, US Forest Service
Researcher and his colleagues
discuss mixed stands as a reasonable
alternative to pine plantations or
exclusively managing for hardwoods.
Source: CompassLive, 3/30/21.
Listen to Willis when he spoke to
AFOA on Mixed Pine & Hardwood
Management on April 27, 2019 in
Atmore.
(04/16/21)
Awaiting Governor's signature,
according to
ALFA's Capitol Connection,
4/16/21:
-
Police
Jurisdiction Bill Passes House, Goes to Governor
-
Feral Hog,
Coyote Night Hunting Bill Awaits Governor Signature
(04/15/21)
Attorney Banks Ladd is offering
several
Estate Planning Workshops
next week. He plans to cover the
following topics:
o How to protect
your belongings against your kid’s
debts, divorce, or disability.
o How to maximize
the inheritance you leave to your
children.
o How to protect
your belongings if your spouse
remarries.
o How to plan
with blended families.
o How to
understand the difference between a
will and a trust.
o How to avoid
the expenses and delays of probate.
o How to keep
your affairs private.
(04/14/21)
Controlling Feral Pigs is on the top
of many landowners' ToDo lists.
If you want to see demos of trapping
devices (some old-school, some
high-tech), plan to visit with
Mark Smith, Extension
Specialist and Auburn University
Professor, between 1:30 and 4:30 on
April 17 - this Saturday - at
AFOA's Annual Meeting at the Alabama
4-H Center, a few miles east of
Columbiana in Shelby County.
(04/13/21)
"We're still enjoying a booming
morel season and we have plenty
of time to keep finding those." If
you don't know where to look for
morel mushrooms or how to cook them
once found, you may want to join the
Alabama Mushroom Society - $20 per
year. Their address is way down at
the bottom of
the April newsletter, a little
ways below a recipe for Morel Cream
Sauce - mmmm.
(04/12/21)
Editor's Note: I can't
think of many things that are more
disturbing of a quiet day in the
woods than to have a dog hunting
group (hunting for deer) drop off
their dogs on a road a mile or two
east your property and then block
the road along side of your property
while they wait to get a shot at a
fleeing buck.
That said, an AFOA member wrote
today, "The Senate has passed out
of committee
Senate Bill 381 doing away with
bans for dog deer hunting in
Alabama. Please make forest owners
aware that we may lose our property
rights should this bill pass."
Read more from Alabama Political
Reporter, 4/9/21.
Find your Senator.
(04/09/21)
Hardwood Silviculturist and
American Chestnut Expert Stacy Clark
has produced two excellent short
videos on work being done to restore
the American Chestnut to our
forests.
Part 1 - Introduction (9
minutes 44 seconds) and
Part 2 - Science in Action (10
minutes 15 seconds).
(04/08/21)
Drones with "dragon eggs" are being
used to start prescribed burns in
Virginia. Make plans now to
see how it's done by attending
AFOA's Annual Meeting on April 17.
The Alabama Forestry Commission's
Kelvin Daniels will demonstrate the
drone technology similar to that
used in Virginia at the 4-H Center
in Shelby County.
Register online here or by
mail and check here.
(04/07/21)
CURB APPEAL: "When the time
comes to sell your land, you can
maximize your return by making a few
simple land improvements, as Pat
Porter, broker at RecLand Realty
explains. Curb appeal is a term that
is usually associated with the
general attractiveness of a house,
but the concept can also be applied
to land." Source: LandThink,
3/30/21
(04/06/21)
Brown Gold falls from longleaf pine
trees, says The
Washington Post, 3/31/21,
"generating an estimated $200
million in annual sales across the
Southeast." Pine straw harvesting
will be featured at AFOA's Annual
Meeting on April 17.
David Sherer, Sherer Straw Supply,
and
Zachery Hind, MTE Pine Straw
will describe Sherer's straw
marketing business and MTE's straw
harvesting system on Saturday
afternoon, April 17 at the 4-H
Center in Shelby County.
Register online here or by
mail and check here.
(04/05/21)
National Association of Home
Builders wants cheaper lumber,
so they are asking federal officials
to increase the supply of domestic
timber. One wonders how a big
organization like NAHB can know so
little about their supply chain that
they think cheaper stumpage will
somehow improve the supply of
lumber. Got a problem? Call Uncle
Sam to fix it. Sad day. Read
more
here and
here.
(04/02/21)
"Just last week I was reading
about a western Massachusetts solar
project that’s enormous, that’s
going to clear forest, and the town
can get 450 thousand dollars in
tax revenue by allowing it to
occur. That’s pretty tempting for
some rural towns."
Read more from interesting
discussion of pros and cons of solar
farms, ecoRInews,
3/24/21.
(04/01/21)
The Emmett F. Thompson Endowed
Deanship was established last week
at the School of Forestry and
Wildlife Sciences. Dr.
Thompson is a former member of the
Board of Directors of the Alabama
Forest Owners' Association (AFOA)
and past Chairman of AFOA's
Consulting Forester Scholarship
Committee. Read
more about the scholarship program
below.
(03/30/21)
A recent attack by NASPA:
Student Affairs Administrators in
Higher Education on private
investment advisor, Suze Orman,
whose message "is basic financial
common sense combined with some
discipline," should probably worry
all investors, including those who
own forestland.
Read more on PowerLine Blog,
Steven Hayward, 3/29/21.
(03/29/21)
"Introduction to Handguns" courses
scheduled this spring. "As
firearms sales continue to set
records, the Alabama Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries Division’s Law
Enforcement Section recognized a
demand in basic training for handgun
safety and use. Eight million new
gun owners were created in 2020
alone."
(03/26/21)
Forestry Extension Specialist
Becky Barlow talks about her
work at Auburn's School of Forestry
& Wildlife Sciences (starts at
2:34), Alabama Farmers
Federation's Preston Roberts
describes his efforts to
rein in
regulatory activities of cities
outside their city limits
(SB107) (starts at 17:27) on
The Land Show Episode 280.
Becky will speak to forest owners at
AFOA's Annual Meeting on April 17.
(03/23/21)
"Tax Tips for Timberland Owners:
Maximizing Your Deductions"
is the headline for today's
Forest2Market Blog.
(03/22/21)
Should forest owners be allowed
to conduct prescribed burns on their
land? What about harvesting
timber? That discussion is going on
right now in Florida as landowners
tell why active forest management is
good for the state's economy and
environment.
Lynetta Usher Griner in The
Gainesville Sun, 3/17/21.
Jim Karels in Florida Politics,
3/17/21.
(04/29/21) Governor Ron DeSantis
signed SB 88 this morning.
(03/19/21)
Mass Timber is a
semiannual publication of The
Architect's Newspaper. We think
you will enjoy the photos in the
Winter 2021 edition demonstrating
the numerous ways architects are
putting wood to work. Enjoy.
(03/18/21)
The cost of a 3D-printed concrete
home reported to be competitive with
the cost of a stick-built home in
New York. What might
happen to our stumpage market if
interest in the new technology were
to catch on across the country?
Might high lumber costs push
builders in this direction?
(03/17/21)
The completion of Westervelt
Lumber’s Thomasville, Alabama, mill
was celebrated on Friday, March 5.
The first load of lumber left the
facility, purchased by Great
Southern Wood Preserving.
Second shift to start up in second
quarter of this year.
(03/16/21)
Back Porch Forestry's creator David
Mercker, University of
Tennessee, has been busy this
winter. He has released 5 new
training programs for forest
landowners. They are
Forest Measurement - Part 1,
Forest Measurement - Part 2,
Forest Measurement - Part 3,
Options for Treating Degraded
Hardwood Stands, and
Hardwood Log Defects.
See a menu of all Back Porch
Forestry episodes here.
(03/15/21)
Workaround to mitigate some of the
adverse tax effects on timber
investors arising from 2017 tax law
changes is described by
University of Georgia's Dr. Yanshu
Li. If your tax advisor
treats your forestland activities as
an investment, you may want to
forward Dr. Li's short explanation
to him.
(03/12/21)
Red Bugs! Chiggers! It's
about to be that time of the year
again. David Strickland wrote about
the pests in the March 2021 issue of
Great Days Outdoors magazine,
Chigger Bites: How to Prevent,
Identify, and Treat (turn to
page 20). Editor's note: Last
spring we learned (in May), to our
discomfort, that our permethrin
treated clothing did not prevent
chigger bites, so we added Deep
Woods Off to our armor (in June).
End of problem.
(03/11/21)
Should a city have the right to
condemn your property to create a
biking or hiking trail? Senate
Bill 105, sponsored by Senator Tom
Whatley, would prevent that from
happening.
Read the Alabama Forestry
Association's Legislative Alert.
(03/10/21)
"Caution Urged with All Burning,"
reported the Alabama Forestry
Commission on March 8.
WSFA12 (Central Alabama) and
WKRG5 (South Alabama) reported
on numerous wildfires in the the
state. If you do plan to burn in
or near your forestland, burn permit
information from the AFC is
available here.
(03/09/21)
Easements, Agreements, Contracts
and Emails.
Braun & Gresham's Landowner
Newsletter today
contains an interesting discussion
on the legality of agreements made
only by email. Scroll down to
Easement Contract Considerations.
(03/08/21)
“At 3:30 a.m., with such
dignity as I can muster of a July
morning, I step from my cabin door,
bearing in either hand my emblems of
sovereignty, a coffee pot and
notebook. I seat myself on a
bench, facing the white wake of
the morning star. I set the pot
beside me. I extract a cup from my
shirt front, hoping none will notice
its informal mode of transport. I
get out my watch, pour coffee, and
lay notebook on knee.” - Aldo
Leopold,
A Sand County Almanac.
For bench building plans,
click here. Topic idea
source: Wisconsin Woodland Owners
Association, 3/8/21.
(03/05/21)
When we purchased this land,
never in my wildest dreams did I
think we would spend such a high
percentage of our income on gravel
and (my husband’s) time on road
maintenance. We are in fact, the
“road crew.”
Read more from Virginia Forest
Landowner e-Update (March 2021),
including five linked publications
on road building and maintenance.
(03/04/21)
Earlier this week, we've been told,
Case Western School of Law hosted a
seminar entitled: Wildlife as
Property Owners: A New Conception of
Animal Rights. The speaker was
Karen Bradshaw, an Arizona
State University Professor of Law.
Reading material here.
(03/03/21)
Weyerhaeuser will acquire 69,200
acres of "high-quality" timberlands
from Soterra in southwest
Alabama for $149 million ($2,153 per
acre).
Highlights from Weyco's press
release included:
o Fee simple ownership
o Excellent operability
o Well-stocked timber
inventory (76-percent in plantation
average age 14)
(03/02/21)
Municipal Planning & Police
Jurisdictions which reach
outside of city limits (SB107)
and a Broadband Authority
bill (SB215)
were discussed by
Preston Roberts, Alabama Farmers
Federation, in a brief video.
About 4 minutes.
(03/01/21)
"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not
going to take it anymore!" No,
that's not what the south Alabama
landowner said when filing a lawsuit
last week against the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service over their
designation of critical habitat for
the "endangered" black pinesnake,
but the thought may have been
hovering in the air nearby.
Read the 35 page lawsuit.
(02/26/21)
MARKETS: "Lumber Prices Are
Soaring. Why Are Tree Growers
Miserable? Sawmill operators
harvest gains while Southern
landowners struggle with tree
surplus; 'I'm not making anything.'"
Source:
The Wall Street Journal,
February 24, 2021.
Cached version if you have trouble
opening the WSJ.
(02/25/21)
"Abnormally high amounts of
rainfall we have seen over the
last few months in the South have
caused stumpage prices to surge
in some pockets and based on the
continued wet weather predictions,
these prices will not reverse
anytime soon."
Read more at Forest2Market Blog
by Mike Powell, 2/25/21.
(02/24/21)
Two new webinars that you
might find interesting are
Getting Started Managing Your Land
and
The Digital Toolbox for the
Woodland Owner: There's an app for
that!
We have not watched either of
these webinars, so would very much
appreciate a note to tell us if they
were useful to you, or not. Thanks.
RLL@AFOA.org.
(02/23/21)
Use extra caution when using an
electric chainsaw -- even when
wearing safety chaps.
Video - about 3 1/2 minutes.
(02/22/21)
Advances in herbicide technology for
pine management with Pat
Minogue, Associate Professor of
Silviculture at the University of
Florida, is the follow-up workshop
that Vegetation Management Primer
(see below,
2/16/21) prepped you for last
week. Starts at about 2:10; about
1 hour and 20 minutes.
(02/19/21)
The new
Northern Logger App is free
and contains information you might
find useful, such as "log volume
rules, timber volumes, woody biomass
tons per acre, lumber tallies,
culvert sizing, gravel requirements
and a retirement planning
calculator."
An introductory webinar is on line,
but we had trouble viewing it. Let
us know if you find the App useful.
Thanks.
(02/18/21)
Nature Trail Development on Small
Acreages is a 36 page
booklet published online by the
University of Arkansas Cooperative
Extension Service. This is a good
time of the year to plan a trail,
since visibility in the woods is
better now.
(02/17/21)
The Overstory is
Mississippi State University
Extension's newsletter for forest
landowners. Topics from the
September 2020 issue included:
Mississippi Timber Price Report,
Successful Hardwood Plantings,
and Can a Change in Pine Planting
Strategies Provide for a Better Fit
for a Changing Market?
Past issues archived here. A
new issue will be published in
March.
(02/16/21)
Controlling competition so your
planted trees are free to grow,
reducing fire hazards, maintaining
roads and trails, reclaiming land
taken over by kudzu or cogongrass --
these are few of the reasons we can
think of that might encourage you to
use herbicides (weed killers) on
your property. Florida Extension
Agent Chris Demers
narrates
Vegetation Management Primer: Why
Use Herbicides? Starts at
about 2:06; about 40+ minutes.
(02/15/21)
IRS FORM T: "The purpose of
IRS Form T is to provide information
on timber accounts for your records
and to be filed with your tax return
when required. If your timber is
held as an investment, not as part
of a business, you are not required
to file IRS Form T. This will be the
case if you only make an occasional
sale of timber (one or two sales
every 3 or 4 years). You are,
however, required to maintain
records which, at a minimum, provide
the information included on Form T.
It is recommended that you complete
the applicable Parts of Form T even
if you are not required to file it
with your return for the current tax
year. The completed form should be
maintained in your records." Source:
Wednesday Woodland Word,
2/10/21.
(02/12/21)
Freeze Injury Alert -- If you
have seedlings on hand waiting to be
planted,
this message from the Southern
Nursery Management Cooperative is
for you.
(02/11/21)
In an attempt to undo
restrictions on expansive federal
land purchases,
90 members of Congress sent a letter
yesterday to the U.S. Department of
the Interior. One AFOA member
wrote: "If your Representative
signed, you may consider giving
him/her 'therapy,' as the late great
Chuck Cushman said." We did
not see anyone from Alabama on the
list.
(02/10/21)
Take a walk across Alabama with the
winners of the Outdoor Alabama Photo
Contest.
(02/09/21)
Chinese Tallow or Popcorn Tree.
If that tree has become a pest on
your land, you might want to weigh
in on the proposed release of two
insects (a beetle and a moth) that
could be used to control the tree's
spread.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
would like your comments before
February 22.
(02/08/21)
Forest products company stocks
up. Raymond James today raised
the target for
PotlatchDeltic Corporation to
$61 per share (it was $50.33 at
the time of the notice). They did
the same on 2/1/21 for
Weyerhaeuser: Target to $37
per share (it was $32.04 at the time
of the notice). Source: Raymond
James Client Reports.
(02/05/21)
LandThink:
"When searching rural land for sale,
which social media platform are you
most likely to use?"
Of course, we would be remiss if
we didn't tell you to check out
AFOA's
www.ForestLand.bz.
(02/04/21)
Legacy Planning: A Guide for
Virginia Landowners is a
new book published by Virginia Tech
Extension Service. The 56-page book
is available on line, but hard
copies may be available - perhaps
for a grandparent who is not
comfortable with online
publications. Check with Jennifer
Gagnon, Coordinator, Virginia
Forest Landowner Education Program -
jgagnon@vt.edu.
(02/03/21)
An
Estate Planning Basics webinar for
landowners was presented by
Texas attorney Margaret Menicucci,
Braun & Gresham, on January 26th,
2021. "This webinar highlights the 3
common challenges landowners face:
protection against exploitation,
leaving a legacy, and keeping up
with changes in the law. It also
identifies basic estate planning
documents you should consider when
meeting with an advisor." About
14 minutes.
(02/02/21)
How much does it cost to plant an
acre of loblolly pines? How much
does it cost to prescribe burn 40
acres? How much does it cost to ...
? We've all asked questions like
these and you may have recently
spent money on forestry practices
and know very intimately the costs
of getting work accomplished. Auburn
University's Professor Adam Maggard
would like your help to produce a
report: Costs and Trends of
Southern Forestry Practices.
Please consider sharing information
with Dr. Maggard by answering a few
survey questions.
Click here to see 2018 report.
(02/01/21)
Woodcock. Did you know the
strange looking little birds live in
Alabama and other parts of the South
in the winter. According to Seth
Maddox, the Alabama Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries Division’s
Migratory Gamebird Coordinator, the
ideal habitat for woodcock is
forests that have been manipulated.
"Logging operations really help,”
he said. “Every time you
clear-cut a patch of land, when
it starts coming back up, that first
five or 10 years provides the
ideal cover for woodcock. When
the trees get tall, the woodcock
don’t use it as much because there
is less underbrush.”
(01/29/21)
We received a rather upbeat
timber market report this week from
F&W Forestry Services. The
F&W Market Update of 1/27/21
contains one sentence that you
should pay attention to, if you have
marketable timber on land that can
be logged in wet weather: "As is
common this time of year, timber
sales that are wet weather-operable
and accessible can bring a
significant premium."
(01/28/21)
"Missouri Poacher Burns Down
Landowner's Cabin in Retaliation,"
by Patrick Durkin in MeatEater,
1/19/21.
(01/27/21)
"NO! We don't want to give anyone an
almost unlimited right to raise our
taxes!" That's what we think
voters in southeast Shelby County
said yesterday to proponents of a
Southeast Shelby Rescue District
when they voted overwhelmingly to
prevent the creation of a new taxing
authority. Source: Shelby
County Reporter, 1/26/21.
Alabama legislators must get this
destructive method of
taxation-without-representation
under control.
(01/25/21)
Mark
your calendar for 2022. If you
are interested and concerned about
the health and direction of Alabama
state government, you won't want to
miss the Alabama Forestry
Association’s Governance Policy
Seminar next year.
Here is the Seminar's 2021 Agenda.
(01/21/21)
The Age of Wood by
Roland Ennos: "Brilliantly
synthesizing recent research with
existing knowledge in fields as
wide-ranging as primatology,
anthropology, archaeology, history,
architecture, engineering, and
carpentry, Ennos reinterprets human
history and shows how our ability to
exploit wood’s unique properties has
profoundly shaped our bodies and
minds, societies, and lives."
For Wall Street Journal
subscribers: 'The Age of Wood'
Review: How to Carve a Civilization.
(01/20/21)
Concerns for the comfort of your
neighbors was one of the reasons
you might want to use a silencer on
your high-powered rifle. For an
interesting discussion about
suppressors or silencers, please
listen to a Great Days Outdoors
interview with expert Mike Pappas.
Starts at 17:16.
(01/18/21)
Just gobbledygook to most of us,
but to the mushroom people among us,
please enjoy the
Alabama Mushroom Society's
January 2021 Newsletter's Fungi
Foragecast:
These colder
months bring out familiar friends that may be a bit
different depending on where you’re looking in the
State of Alabama. Be on the lookout for Pleurotus
(the oysters) which are much-less buggy while cold
out, Lepista (such as L. nuda, the wood-blewit),
many species of Cortinarius (the web-caps), an
abundance of wax-caps of the family Hygrophoraceae
(including Hygrocybe, Hygrophorus, and
Cuphophyllus), Hydnum (hedgehogs), Tolypocladium,
Clavaridelphus, Hericium species (including lion’s
mane, H. erinaceus), Amanitas, especially in the
Lepidella group, a cacophony of Stereum, Trichaptum,
and more Trametes than you could count (T.’s
versicolor, lactinea, hirsutum, betulina, aesculi,
etc.)! Down South you may also find large amounts of
Lacarria, Amanitas from the sections Amanita,
Lepidella, and Validae, or even some winter
Craterellus! Happy Hunting!
(01/15/21)
So... What do you think will
happen with timber markets this
year? Forest2Market experts have
made
18 Predictions for the Global
Forest, Pulp & Paper, and Chemical
Industries in 2021.
(01/14/21)
"We've got to have wood and
lumber," said Hal.
"Of course we have. But there won't
be any unless we go in for forestry.
It's been practised in Germany for
three hundred years."
Two Pennsylvania boys discuss their
future while camping on their
parents' land along the Susquehanna
River - about 1910.
Here's a link to the Zane Grey
novel, The Young Forester.
(01/13/21)
Control the weeds and brush that
slow down the growth of the little
pines you plant. Extension's
Ryan Mitchell and Richard Cristan
have teamed up to help you pick the
best herbicides for your special
needs in their online publication:
Forestry Herbicides for Site
Preparation of Pine Plantations.
You may find the PDF version handy
if you plan to print and carry with
you.
(01/12/21)
Virtual Upland Hardwood Workshop.
"This [16 hour Southern Research
Station] workshop was designed to
provide foresters and other natural
resource practitioners with the most
state-of-the-art, science-based
information necessary to sustainably
manage upland hardwood ecosystems of
the Central Hardwoods Region of the
US for a wide variety of goods and
services.
You can view the recorded
presentations and course materials
from each day!"
(01/11/21)
Handbook of Alabama's Prehistoric
Indians and Artifacts by
David M. Johnson. "Alabama's
diverse projectile points and other
artifact types get concise and
thorough treatment in this paramount
book, as each example is eloquently
brought to life with full scale
photos, geographic distribution
charts, and descriptions."
$42.95 at Barnes and Noble.
(01/08/21)
$50 per first 100 acres property tax
proposed for forest landowners in
south Shelby County! The
not-yet-created
Southeast Shelby Emergency Medical
Services District proposes to
lean heavily on undeveloped
forestland for support. A vote open
only for residents of the proposed
district is to be held on January
26. Town hall meetings are scheduled
for Jan. 12 at 6 PM at Risen Life
Church and Jan. 14 at 6 PM at
Wilsonville Baptist Church.
Editor's Note: Alabama legislators
must get this destructive method of
taxation-without-representation
under control.
(01/07/21)
Does the South produce a lot of
wood pellets? Jay Engle
discusses (and shows) how much
and where in his blog:
How Much Energy is Produced Using
Wood? A Forester's Perspective.
(01/06/21)
Chronic Wasting Disease Detected in
Two Additional Northeast Mississippi
Counties. Now within 25
miles of Alabama. See also:
CWD Roundup from NDA.
(01/05/21)
Clean Water: Good Forestry.
If you are planning to work on your
woods roads or to make a timber
sale, you will benefit from watching
Dr. Richard Cristan's webinar,
Best Practices for Forest Road and
Skid Trail Construction,
Maintenance, and Close-out BMPs.
About 52 minutes.
(01/04/21)
You are invited to join Clemson
University forestry students on a
Visit to Germany (and Switzerland)
in July 2022. "A good way to
understand the forest-management
activities and limitations from
other countries is to actually visit
the country as part of a forestry
tour or program." Source:
Understanding the Other Party!,
Journal of Forestry, 11/20.
We'll post details and contact
information for the visit as soon as
they become available.
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