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CAPITAL IDEAS -- LIVE!
January 2004 News Conference for Forest Owners
Sponsored by Alabama Forest Owners' Association, Inc.
Conference was recorded Wednesday, January 21, 2004.
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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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Mary Anastasia O’Grady
(00:25) |
Free Markets, Free People
Mary Anastasia O’Grady is a
senior editorial page writer at
The Wall Street Journal and editor of "The Americas," a weekly
column that appears every Friday and deals with politics, economics and
business in Latin America and Canada.
O'Grady is co-editor of the
Index of Economic Freedom
(428 pages, $24.95), which "...scores economic freedom in ten
categories, ranging from fiscal burdens and government regulation to
monetary and trade policy." This year, the Index noted that
"...despite an overall trend toward more economic freedom, a
disturbing pattern of declining property-rights protection,
detected over the past three years, continues world-wide."
Secure property rights "...help explain why
Hong Kong and Singapore enjoy annual per capita incomes of better than
$24,000 while Zimbabwe, where property rights have been trampled, has an
annual per capita income of $559. This correlation is but a subset
of the wider conclusions shown in the Index."
Editor's Comment: A strong respect for
and defense of property rights in a nation is very important to private
forest owners who commit large amounts of capital for long periods of
time. Without strong defense of property rights, there is little
incentive to nurture forests on private land.
Phone: (212) 416-4904
Email:
mary.o'grady@wsj.com
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Dr. Al Schuler
(05:22) |
Softwood Competition in the Global Economy
Al Schuler, a Research Economist
with the USDA Forest Service, is responsible for assessing the demand/supply
situation for solid wood products and estimating the demand for engineered
wood products (EWP). He also assesses the links between the softwood and
hardwood forest products industry.
The mission of Schuler and his team is to
provide economic, market, and wood-use information that will support the
health and sustainability of forest-based industries, hardwood forests,
and forest communities in the eastern United States.
Phone: (304) 431-2727
Email:
aschuler@fs.fed.us
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Steve Guy (10:08) |
State Belt Tightening May Squeeze Forestry and Wildlife Agencies
Steve Guy is the Director of the Forestry and Wildlife Resources
Division of the
Alabama Farmers Federation in Montgomery. For the past few months,
Steve has attended meetings of the
Governor's Commission on Efficiency, Consolidation and Funding. A
recent report in the Birmingham News said "Other proposals
suggested by the panel included considering: . . . Consolidating the
Alabama Forestry Commission and state Conservation Department." We
thought that "suggestion" by the commission would be of interest to many
forest owners because you probably know people that work for both agencies
and you may have an opinion or two on how the agencies could serve you
better or cut back on services you do not need. Steve works closely with
staff members and leaders of both agencies and he's deeply involved in the
activities of several other state agencies, so we look forward to hearing
his comments about the suggestions of the Governor's commission.
Phone: 1-800-392-5705 ext. 4305
Email:
sguy@alfafarmers.org
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Dr. Liam E. Leightley
(13:51) |
Forest Products and Technological Improvements
Liam Leightley
is the head of the
Department of Forest Products at Mississippi State's
College of Forest Resources and Wildlife Research Center. Dr.
Leightley's research interests include marketing, technology transfer,
strategic planning and wood protection.
Through a partnership with TimTek Australia
Ltd., Leightley and his team are working with technologies they hope
will ultimately produce commercially viable engineered wood products.
"The TimTek process forms high-strength,
engineered lumber using small-diameter trees that are crushed into
strands. Coated with an exterior-type adhesive and dried, the strands
then are formed to desired shapes in a specialized steam-injection hot
press."
Phone: (662) 325-4444
Email:
lleightley@cfr.msstate.edu
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Dr. J. Thomas Chesnutt
(16:45) |
Agri-Tourism: Alternative Income Source
Tom Chesnutt is the Extension Tourism Specialist for the Alabama
Cooperative Extension System based in Auburn, Alabama
For many small Alabama communities,
Agri-tourism is their one shot at economic development. The reality is
very few communities will ever land a Honda or Mercedes plant, but many
abound in farms - small or large - that specialize in crops such as
strawberries, pumpkins, cotton or peanuts. And, there is no shortage of
folks from all walks of life would like to visit these farms for a
sample of rural life.
The concept is very simple and farmers and
their communities are already profiting from agri-tourism projects.
Extension is working in a statewide effort
to capitalize on this valuable resource. The first goal is to develop a
statewide Alabama Agri-Tourism Trail - an exhaustive inventory of
agri-tourism sites in Alabama, as well as some national links.
General Information on Agri-Tourism
Phone: (334) 844-3683
Email:
jchesnut@aces.edu
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William G. Hubbard
(19:57) |
Master Tree Farmer is Coming to Town
Bill Hubbard
is the Southern Regional Extension Forester and is based at the
University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Bill keeps the Extension
Forestry Specialists across the South informed on effective ways to spread
their message of good forest and wildlife management and we always look
forward to hearing from him. Today he reminds us that the now famous
Master Tree Farmer series will begin next month on February 3. The
seven-part live satellite-linked series will be delivered to scores of
locations,
including 16 in Alabama. Thousands of forest owners will attend
the programs and AFOA strongly urges you to be one of them.
But if you cannot attend every
Tuesday night for 7 weeks, there is a convenient way for you to
attend past year's programs without leaving your home or office.
Master Tree Farmer I,
Master Tree Farmer II and
Master Wildlifer
are all available on the Internet. The video programs and downloadable
handout materials that support the programs are available at the click
of a mouse. You may have to download a free copy of RealPlayer software,
but it is well worth it.
Phone: (706) 542-7813
Email:
hubbard@smokey.forestry.uga.edu
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Dr. Jeanne C. Jones
(23:08) |
Enhancing Non-game Wildlife Habitat on Your Land
Jeanne Jones is
Associate Professor with the
Department of Wildlife & Fisheries at Mississippi State
University. Selling timber and leasing land for hunting are important
income sources for many forest owners, but there are potentially many
others, such as developing birding trails and motor bike trails and leasing
carbon storage rights. When seeking someone to tell us how to make changes
to our land that will improve the habitat of non-game species, Dr. Jones
came highly recommended. One wildlife biologist stated that within 6 months
members of their profession could make changes to forestland now supporting
8 bird species into forestland that would support 40 bird species -- a
remarkable achievement if there were people - owners and birders - who
appreciated the difference. We are hopeful but remain skeptical.
Habitat improvement is important to attract birds, but we
also wonder what changes we must make to the ways we manage our land and
market our products such that we attract birders as easily as we attract
hunters and loggers.
Resources:
Recommended Reading:
Phone: (662) 325-2219
Email:
jjones@cfr.msstate.edu
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Don C. East (27:36) |
Make the Most of Your Timber Sale
Don East won the Alabama Tree Farmer of the Year Award in 2002
and the Helene Mosley Memorial Treasure Forest Award for the northeast
region of Alabama in 1999. Don and Lou East live on their Tree Farm in
Lineville, Alabama. Don's recent article in Tree Farmer magazine
(Nov/Dec, 2003) is an excellent point of beginning for forest owners who are
preparing themselves and their land for a timber sale.
"To the average Tree Farmer, making a
timber sale should be considered a major step. It should be considered a
serious matter that requires careful preparation. In just a few days or
weeks a timber sale removes what you and Mother Nature have nourished
for at least the past 20 to 30 years. There are no second chances. Think
of it as an irreversible medical operation: You want to make the right
decisions, and get a second and perhaps third opinion, so you can have
it done right the first time."
Don asked AFOA to alert you to this
correction in the Tree Farmer article:
On the first page of the article (page 20 in the magazine), in the second
column, under item 1 should be corrected as follows: the second sentence
should read "If you own more than just a small woodlot, and you don't
have a current overall management plan for your property, you would be
smart to stop right here and get one."
Phone: (256) 396-2694
Email:
creekstreefarms2@yahoo.com
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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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