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CAPITAL IDEAS -- LIVE!
September 2003 News Conference for Forest Owners
Sponsored by Alabama Forest Owners' Association, Inc.
Conference was recorded Wednesday, September 17, 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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Glenn Myers (00:40) |
Fun
and Profit: Trails for Bikers & Hikers
Glenn Myers is
President of
Cheaha Trail
Riders, a group that, during the past 3 years, has developed in
partnership with the US Forest Service, the Kentuck ORV System in the
Talladega National Forest near Anniston. Kentuck now has 23.5 miles of
trail open to the public, year round access, a kiddy loop, bathroom,
campsites, loading/unloading dock, and "some of the best riding in the
nation." Myers is currently assisting with the planning and development
of
Minooka Park, a 159 acre OHV Park & Trail System with a lake and
10 miles of trails suitable for ATVs, Dirt Bikes, Mountain Bikes,
Horses, and Hikers.
While Kentuck & Minooka are built on public lands with
significant public funding, forest owners should consider working
with a trail riders association to develop private, for fee, riding
areas. Acreage requirements should pose no problem for many AFOA
members and a Google search found only a handful of ATV trails in
Alabama.
phone: (256) 831-1935
email: gmyers.nohvcc@juno.com
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Calder M. Hibbard
(03:48) |
Property Tax Incentives Common in U.S.
Calder Hibbard
is a Research Fellow in the Department of Forest Resources, University
of Minnesota, St. Paul. He has co-authored a paper entitled
Property Tax Programs Focused on Forest Resources: A Review and
Analysis (click here - pdf file) which contains important
information for all private forest owners. Although the September 9,
2003 referendum to raise taxes was soundly defeated, owners of forest
and farmland were pointedly criticized in the debate leading up to the
vote. We were labeled as people who do not pay our fair share of taxes.
Today we present Mr. Hibbard and his research to you to make sure you
know that
property tax incentives to encourage the ownership and nurturing of
forestland are very common in the United States.
What is special about Alabama's situation is
that our current-use property tax assessment program is almost totally
free of expensive bureaucracies found in the programs of most other
states. Unfortunately, our current-use assessment formula is flawed and
must be repaired soon to remain effective.
(See Editor's Note, June 18, 2003)
Perhaps, when the needed repairs are made, a broad segment of Alabama
society can be included among the proponents of the current-use
assessment program.
phone: (612) 624-2202
email: hibb0006@umn.edu
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Dr. B. Graeme Lockaby
(07:57) |
Cleaning Urban Runoff: A Forest Product Worthy of Payment
Graeme
Lockaby is Co-Director of the
Center for Forest Sustainability at Auburn University. The goal of
the Center "is to understand the impact of rising populations on
multiple forest resources and, ultimately, our quality of life." In a
speech to the Alabama Forestry Association earlier this month, Dr.
Lockaby stated that some of the services provided by working
forestland (water quality improvements, for example) are so
valuable that forest
owners should be paid for providing them. Forestland water
cleanup may be more cost-effective than some alternative engineering
methods and active timber harvesting, if done correctly, may improve the
cleansing effect.
 Nighttime
photo showing lights across the U.S. In Alabama the lights are
particularly concentrated near Birmingham, Huntsville and the Gulf
Coast.
(click on the photo to increase size)
phone: (334) 844-1054
email: lockabg@auburn.edu
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Terry Reece Love
(12:10) |
Protect Yourself: Develop a Sound Hunting Lease
Terry Love is
a consulting forester with Forestry Consultants, Inc., based in
Opelika, Alabama. We've noticed that Terry has been bringing a steady
stream of forestland properties to AFOA's "Hunting
Land for Lease" web page, so we thought we'd ask him to provide us
with a few tips on leasing land to hunters.
He urges landowners to develop a good contract or lease
agreement with the hunters and suggests several points to include in the
lease, including requirements for liability insurance and safety
concerns.
Items he suggests we include are:
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Landowner & Hunter (or club) Names
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Rights Given to Hunters
- Right to harvest game - specific or
general
- Right to cultivate food plots &
specified locations
- Right of Ingress & Egress
- Right to Maintain & Improve Existing
Roads & Trails
- Location of Property (legal
description)
- Term of the Agreement (starting &
ending dates)
- Amount of Compensation
- Termination Clause for Breach of
Contract
- Type of Hunting Allowed -- stand,
stalk, dog, etc.
- Timber Management Priority Statement
- Soil Erosion Clause
- Liability Insurance Requirements
- Statement on Sub-leasing
- Signatures of Lessor & Lessee(s)
- Map of Property
Links of interest:
phone: (334) 745-7530
email:
troublelove@mindspring.com
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Dr. Vernon R. Hayes, Jr.
(15:51) |
Bio
What? An Energy Bill Update
Vern Hayes is
the government affairs director for the
Forest
Landowners Association and is based in Washington, DC.
Last September Vern reported on
the Energy Bill and how it might provide stable markets for low
quality forest products and wood waste and we've asked him to give us an
update on the situation 12 months later. In a repeat of last year's
energy bill debate, power companies would not receive valuable renewable
energy credits if they burn trees harvested simply to produce
electricity. Electricity produced from burning wood waste and annual
crops, such as switchgrass (review
Doug Boylan's report from May 2002), and electricity produced from
wind or solar sources would receive those credits.
phone: (301) 877-6898
email:
vhayes@forestlandowners.org
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Nancie G. Marzulla
(19:12) |
Smart Growth or No Growth?
Nancie Marzulla
is a founder and President of
Defenders of
Property Rights and "is one of the nation’s leading authorities
on constitutionally protected rights in property." She is co-author of
the basic textbook of property rights law,
Property Rights: Understanding Government Takings and Environmental
Regulation. Today Nancie describes how the "Smart Growth"
movement is funded and how it impacts landowners. She recommends
ordering a free DPR publication,
Smart Growth (click here).
A few links for you to
review:
phone: (202) 822-6770
email:
brian@yourpropertyrights.org
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Danny Bryant (22:51) |
Prescribed Burning Short Course:
October 14-17, Starkville, Mississippi
Danny Bryant
is the Fire Training Officer for the Mississippi Forestry Commission
and is one of eleven instructors that will teach the
Prescribed Burning Shortcourse (click here) next month at
Mississippi State University. Several AFOA members have attended this
course in past years and spoken highly of the instruction and
hospitality given them in Starkville.
Danny tells us who should attend the course, why
someone should become a "certified prescribed burn manager", and what
pre-requisites are required to enter the course. If you have pine
trees on your land, this course will provide you with important
information.
phone: (601) 359-2808
email: dbryant@mfc.state.ms.us
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Robert C. Wright
(25:48) |
"Timber Prices Are Up, Especially Hardwood."
Bob Wright ,
a repeat guest on Capital Ideas - Live!, brings us a special
perspective on North Alabama Timber Markets from his Tennessee vantage
point. The rugged hilly terrain of North Alabama and Tennessee have much
in common, including tree species and silvicultural conditions. Bob has
been publishing the
Tennessee Forest Products Bulletin for the Tennessee Division of
Forestry for several years and has a keen appreciation for the
importance of size on the value of hardwood trees. Bob recommends we
look at page 5 of the Bulletin to appreciate the differences between
grades 1, 2 & 3.
phone: (615) 837-5431
email:
robert.wright@state.tn.us
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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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