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CAPITAL IDEAS -- LIVE!
August 2003 News Conference for Forest Owners
Sponsored by Alabama Forest Owners' Association, Inc.
Conference was recorded Wednesday, August 20, 2003.
SCROLL DOWN FOR CONFERENCE GUEST INFORMATION
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Hayes D. Brown
starting time: (00:00) |
Moderator
Hayes D. Brown, attorney and forest owner, will moderate this
news conference. Hayes' email address is
hbrown@hayesbrown.com.
Click Here to View & Hear Prior News Conferences.
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Bob Gambacurta
(00:31) |
BE SURE TO VOTE ON SEPTEMBER 9!
Bob Gambacurta
is the spokesman for the
Tax Accountability
Coalition (www.rileyrate.com). He
spends all his time right now trying to defeat Governor Bob Riley's $1.2
billion tax package, which will be voted on in a September 9 referendum.
Unless you are exempt from property taxes, you will see a significant
increase in your land taxes if the referendum passes. Be sure to try out
the tax calculator at
www.rileyrate.com. All of the Alabama Farmers Federation county
chapters are working to defeat the package and many other groups as
well. A few we have heard of are:
AFOA, with the help of
members and friends, recently sent 48,000 post cards to forest owners to
remind them to vote on September 9. Our
August 28 meeting in
Vestavia will feature Farmers Federation's Steve Guy, discussing the
referendum. AFOA was also the guest of "Another Side," a 30 minute
television show sponsored by South Alabamians for Real Reform. (Their
broadcasts have been professionally produced and tapes are available for
use at your local cable company. For copies contact Les Barnett at (251)
639-9639 or
hlbarnett@omniphoneinc.com.)
Click here for
excerpts from Another Side.
Phone: (334) 213-2302
Email: bobg@taxonyou.com
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Katherine M. Eddins
(03:50) |
Cut High Property Taxes with Conservation Easements?
Katherine Eddins
is the Executive Director of
The Alabama Land
Trust, based in Jacksonville, Alabama. We've asked her to tell
us a little bit about conservation easements.
Up until now, we've always thought that conservation easements might be
helpful to reduce estate and income taxes, but weren't needed to reduce
Alabama's
sanely low property taxes. However, Governor Riley's proposed property
tax increases have shed a new light on the use of conservation
easements.
Locking out all possibility of developing a property for housing or
commercial uses with a conservation easement will look pretty good to
forest owners and farmers if the referendum passes on September 9.
Whether high property taxes can be avoided with an easement is an
important question for Ms. Eddins to answer.
On Land Trusts and Conservation Easements:
Phone: (404) 861-8567
Email: katherine@chattowah.org
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Dr. David N. Laband
(07:59) |
Eminent Domain:
Revenue Enhancement or Theft?
Dave Laband,
professor in the
Forest Economics Department at Auburn University, is back
with us again this month to discuss the ongoing actions of the City of
Alabaster in Shelby County. Although forestland isn't involved in the
Alabaster situation, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine state
or local governments forcing forest owners to change their land use or
sell out to satisfy cash-hungry politicians.
Alabaster is in the process of
forcing about a dozen landowners to sell their land to a developer so
that a private retail shopping center can be built on their
property. Condemnation lawsuits are now being prepared by the city's
attorney. Dr. Laband reminds us that cases like this, once unheard of,
are now quite common and he ponders why landowners don't press their
cases more successfully.
Phone: (334) 844-1074
Email: labandn@auburn.edu
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Dr. Daowei Zhang
(11:20) |
Many Hunting Leases Priced Below Market Potential
Daowei
Zhang
is Professor of Forest Economics and Policy at the School of Forestry and
Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University. He has written 3 papers
that will prove interesting to many AFOA members. They are:
We found it particularly exciting that he learned that most hunting club
members were willing to pay considerably more for their share of their
hunting lease fees than they are currently paying. He also developed a
list of factors that catch the attention of hunters when searching for
that "perfect" hunting spot. If you advertise your land for lease on
AFOA's "hunting land for lease" web page
(click here), knowing those
factors could prove valuable to you.
Phone: (334) 844-1067
Email: zhangd1@auburn.edu
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Jeroen Kaijser Bots
(15:13) |
Another New Pinestraw Buyer for Alabama
Jeroen "J" Kaijser
Bots
is the owner of
Pine
Needles International, Inc., a Charlotte, North Carolina based
company that buys and sells pine straw. In June we featured Robert
Crabtree, who rakes and sells pine straw in Central and Northeast
Alabama and now we introduce you to Jeroen Kaijser Bots who wants to buy
big quantities of longleaf and slash pine straw from landowners with
larger acreages. Visit Jeroen's web page and give him a call if pine
straw is in your veins.
AFOA urges you to check
references of any buyer of pine straw or other forest products. Also be
sure to prevent unhappiness by developing a well written contract, not a
handshake.
Phone: (336) 508-4110 or (704)
596-5670
Email: pni@email.com
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Debbie Vitulli
(18:00) |
Succession: How to Plan and Manage the Process
a live interactive audio conference -- September 10
Debbie Vitulli is
Director of Speaker and Educational Services with
The Family
Business Consulting Group, Inc., in Marietta, Georgia. The Group
specializes in bringing educational seminars to the offices and homes of
its clients through live telephone conferences. Debbie will describe
their next conference on family succession, including
registration information.
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Discussion leader:
Steve McClure, Ph.D.
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Topics:
Planning for Continuity: A checklist
The CEO’s “Letting Go” checklist
Development Opportunities for Successors
Checklist for Successor Development
Family Mission Statement
Leadership Transition – What Works and What Doesn’t
Minimizing Tension During Leadership Transition
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Registration: This
conference is available at your desk for $149 with as many participants
on your end as desired.
Click here for registration details or call 1-800-551-0633.
AFOA liked the audio
conference idea so much that we will host a "downlink" at our
Pelham office for up to 5 people at $30 each. To attend at the AFOA
office, call or email Lee at AFOA today. (205) 987-8811 or
Lee@afoa.org
Phone: 1-866-738-7529
Email:
debbie@efamilybusiness.com
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Dr. Thomas J. Straka
(21:04) |
Survey of Forestry Expenses Aids Cash Flow Planning
Dr.
Thomas Straka
is Professor of Forest Management and Economics at Clemson University,
South Carolina. He is a co-author of
Costs and Cost Trends for Forestry Practices in the South (click
here), a biennial survey published in the March/April 2003 issue of
Forest Landowner magazine. Completed in 2002, this
survey report describes current costs for ten common southern forestry
practices and provides tables with cost changes from 1952 to 2002.
You'll want to read the entire report, but we thought you'd be
interested in the following table from the report (table 11). We
highlighted two items that
have really shot up in cost during the last 2 years, but are reminded by
Dr. Straka to look at longer time periods to see real cost trends.
FOREST PRACTICE Overall Average
Percent Change
2000-2002
Prescribed burning -19
Removing undesirable trees +3
(chemically)
Timber Cruising +57
Marking trees for harvesting +153
Mechanical site preparation +22
Planting by hand +25
Planting by machine +43
Precommercial thinning +24
Dr. Straka is co-author of a book on Basic Forestry Investment
Analysis which we may discuss on a future webcast.
Click here for purchase details.
Phone: (864) 656-4827
Email: tstraka@clemson.edu
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Jack Fillingham
(24:23) |
Stumpage Market Report
Jack Fillingham
is Vice Chairman of Sizemore & Sizemore, Inc., a forestry
consulting firm located in Tallassee, Alabama. Sizemore & Sizemore
provides timberland appraisal and inventory services throughout the
Southeast and forest management services in Alabama. We have had more
than our share of rainfall this year and, as you might expect, the wet
weather has had a big effect on logging conditions and stumpage prices.
Jack provides us with a 12
month spreadsheet report of timber sales in Alabama (click here)
and makes a few brief comments about its contents. (Microsoft Excel
needed to open spreadsheet)
Jack currently serves as
chairman of the Alabama Chapter of the
Association of
Consulting Foresters. He urges us to use consulting foresters to
handle our timber sales and suggests that their expertise will make
sales more successful in many ways.
Stumpage Pricing Services
Timber Mart-South
Forest2Market.com
Phone: (334) 283-3611
Email: jpf@tallassee.net
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Issues and Topics AFOA is
following.
To suggest an issue or a
topic for a future news conference,
please send an email note to AFOA by clicking here. |
- National or Federal Issues
-
EPA Proposed Water Quality Trading
- Energy Bill
- CCA Treated Southern Pine Lumber
- TMDLs
- EPA Basin Projects
- CARA
- Forest Certification
- 2002 Farm Bill
- Energy Crisis & Federal Eminent
Domain
- Red Hills Salamander
- Constitutional Revision/Tax Reform
- County Zoning
- Right to Farm & Practice Forestry
- Illegal Dumping
- Delaney Family Current-Use Case
- JeffCo Storm Water Management
Program
- Current Use Tax Assessment Rates
- Local Harvesting Restrictions &
Road Weight Limits
- Bridge Repairs & the Alabama Trust
Fund
- Dog Hunting & Hunter Trespass
- Seasonal Forest and Wildlife
Management Tips
- Southern Pine Beetle: Salvage &
Prevention
- Forest Fertilization
- Intensive Forest Management
- Long Rotation Management & Natural
Regeneration
- Palm Pilots & Forest Records
- Useful Computer Software
- Industry Consolidation & Timber
Markets
- Stumpage & Forest Product Markets
- Forestland For Sale
- Wood Buying Policies During SPB
Epidemic
- Alabama's Pine Straw Wholesale
Market
- Minerals, Gas & Oil Activity
- Recreational Businesses for Forest
Owners
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