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CAPITAL IDEAS -- LIVE!
August 2005 News Conference for Forest Owners
Sponsored by Alabama Forest Owners' Association, Inc. Conference was recorded
August 17, 2005.
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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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Matt Bennett
(00:31) |
Bowater Creates Problems
for All Landowners
Matt Bennett is Vice President of Sales for Emmet Vaughn Lumber
Company located in Maryville, Tennessee. He's figured out what's really
going on among big landowners and environmentalist groups. On June 29, 2005,
Bowater signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with
Dogwood Alliance,
and the Natural Resources
Defense Council that pledged Bowater to several
meaningless, politically correct policies that won't affect their bottom
line but might affect yours. "In return," Bennett observes,
"these two groups agreed to stop bad-mouthing Bowater and tell everyone what
good guys they are." However, Bennett notes that Bowater has been a good
corporate and environmentally conscious citizen for decades. So, why would
Bowater go through this charade?
Bowater has agreed to:
- Not convert hardwood forests to
pine plantations
- Not buy pine pulpwood from
landowners who converted hardwood to pine after 2007
- Not aerially apply herbicides
within 300 feet of their property line
Phone: (865) 577-7577
Email: bennettm@mindspring.com
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Frank Stewart
(05:22) |
Energy Bill - Another
Example of Hand-outs and Subsidies...ho hum
Frank Stewart is the
contract lobbyist for the
Forest
Landowners Association.
On July 29, 2005, the
Energy Bill was signed, and it is a sad example of the way we, both
Congress and the citizens of this country, attempt to solve problems. Frank
thinks he's found a few good apples in this stinking barrel, and he's here
to tell us about it.
Use
THOMAS to get more
information on the Bill:
- Go to
http://thomas.loc.gov/
- Enter the Energy Bill Number (H.R.6) into
the "Search Bill Text 109th Congress (2005-2006)" Search field
- Click on the "Search" button
Phone: (703) 549-0747
Email: fltc@fltc.net
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Dr. Loren W. (Wes) Burger, Jr.
(08:42) |
Funds Available for CRP
Mid-Rotation Forest Management
Wes Burger is an Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at
Mississippi State University. According to the latest
Farm
Service Agency report (6/05), 177,930 acres in Alabama on 4,145
contracts were enrolled in
Conservation Reserve Programs. The FSA has approved cost share
funding for pruning, prescribed burning, herbicide treatments, etc., but
they're not likely to tell you about it - you'll have to ask them.
Approved Treatments
- Prescribed burning
- Fertilization
- Pruning
- Interseed native plants
CRP Information
Phone: (662) 325-8782
Email: wburger@cfr.msstate.edu
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Edward P. "Buck" Whatley
(11:35) |
Strength in Numbers Works
in Hale County
Buck Whatley is a landowner and owner of the
Magnolia Restaurant in Greensboro, Alabama. In 1989, he successfully
organized fellow landowners in Hale County to form a group that grew to
represent 64,000 acres! The North Hale County Landowners Association
successfully leased to
ARCO Gas and Victory Resources for methane gas and oil
exploration and drilling, but the group didn't stop there. The group was
responsible for having internet services brought to North Hale County and
opposed and prevailed in an attempt to annex farm land into town limits (an
action which would have raised their taxes and provided few, if any,
benefits). Today, Whatley and his fellow landowners are involved with part
of the same group in getting a better price for their oil and gas leases.
Phone: (334) 624-0777
Email: epw@mound.net
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Clint Bentz (14:38) |
Successful Family Meetings
Clint Bentz is a
partner with
Boldt, Carlisle & Smith, LLC in Stayton, Oregon, a certified public
accountant, and the 2002 National Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year. It is
dangerous to assume that your heirs will share your vision for the family
forestlands after you are gone. They may not know how to practice sound
forest management. They might be planning to sell the land. They may not get
along! One way to solve these problems and put all fears aside is to
plan a structured and "professional" meeting with your family to
prevent serious problems that could destroy years of building good family
relationships, as well as years of good forest management, after you are
gone.
Upcoming Courses in Family Business
Phone: (503) 769-2186
Email: cbentz@bcsllc.com
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Dr. Mark D. Gibson
(18:41) |
You Control Wood Quality
Mark Gibson
is the Associate Director of the
School
of Forestry and a professor at
Louisiana Tech University
in Ruston, Louisiana.
Tree Growth, Forest Management, and Their Implications for Wood Quality,
written by
John Punches,
Oregon State University Extension Service, is just as valid in
Alabama as it is in Oregon. Although Punches was writing for a Pacific
Northwest audience, the wood growing principles he describes are valid in
the South. Gibson, an expert in tree growth/wood quality/wood property
relationships, helps us apply those principles to southern pines.
Phone: (318) 257-3036
Email: mgibson@latech.edu
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Dr. Stephen P. Prisley
(23:50) |
Highly Rated Computer
Mapping Software is Free!
Stephen Prisley is an Associate Professor of
Forest Inventory and GIS
at the
Department of Forestry at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in
Blacksburg, Virginia. If you've been wary to experiment with
GIS (geographic information system) software in the past because
you're intimidated by cost or difficulty, you should check out
fGIS
(Forestry GIS). This Freeware GIS Mapping software is available
through
Digital Grove
and is free! Not only that, fGIS was rated highly by Prisley and grad
student Aaron Bernard in their
review of "small-scale" GIS systems.
They found that fGIS is "a stand-alone system for private landowners that
need simple, useful ways to perform land management." The fGIS software
received high marks in the following categories:
- Ease of use
- Ease of installation
- Attribute table functionality and
adaptability
- Map printing customization capability
Downloadable GIS Data for Alabama
Phone: (540) 231-7674
Email: prisley@vt.edu
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David Edwards, Jr.
(27:38) |
Timely Wildlife Tips
Dave Edwards is a
wildlife biologist
with
Westervelt Wildlife Services
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. For those of us making preparations to plant
wildlife food plots this fall, Edwards offers some recommendations on what
things to plant. He also offers some deer harvesting strategies on how to
determine which does to harvest in order to properly manage for a quality
deer herd. In addition, he will talk about
infrared
census methods to monitor deer herds and how to employ this
useful tool.
Phone: (205) 562-5408
Email:
dedwards@gulf-states.com
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