CAPITAL IDEAS -- LIVE!
MAY 2016
News Conference for Forest Owners
Sponsored by the Alabama Forest Owners' Association,
Inc.
This Conference was recorded on May 18, 2016.
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Hayes D. Brown
starting time: (00:00)
Comment |
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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Dick Patten
(00:26)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Eliminating the Death Tax
Dick Patten is
President of the
American Business
Defense Council, based in Washington, DC.
The Forest Landowners Tax
Council suggested we talk to Dick about his work to eliminate the death
tax: "Dick co-authored the death tax elimination bill last year with
Rep. Kevin Brady
(now, Chairman of Ways & Means) that passed that chamber. He is now working with
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to pass it in the Senate."
Dick's response to our search for background information on the Death Tax
and efforts to repeal it was quite remarkable. He introduced us to the
Death Tax Studies page on the Council's website, pointing out that
it is "the largest collection of academic and economic studies related to
the Death Tax known to exist. It is used by many within the House and Senate
as the go-to source." About 2 dozen studies are available under the
following headings:
- Effect of Death Tax on Jobs and the
Economy
- Joint Economic Studies on the Impact of
the Death Tax
- The Effects of the Death Tax on the
Federal Budget
- State by State Studies on the Economic
Effects of the Death Tax
- Life Insurance Lobbying
Phone: (202) 621-7339
Email:
dick.patten@businessdefense.org
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L. Reed Watson, Jr.
(04:10)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Reducing the Federal Estate
Reed Watson is
Executive
Director of the
Property &
Environment Research Center (PERC), an organization "dedicated to
improving environmental quality through property rights and markets."
Several months ago in his
PERC Reports - From the Director: Why
Private Land? he wrote "...the federal government should not acquire
more lands - it should not take private lands and make them public - when it
cannot manage the lands it already owns. ...conservation, at its core, means
first taking care of what you already have."
Then, in an April 28 article,
5 Myths about the Land
and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), Reed and co-authors Robert Nelson
and Shawn Regan summarized their report with, "Without reform, the LWCF should be terminated."
The Land & Water Conservation Fund is a federal program that acquires
private land and has been under debate lately in the Congress.
On nearly the same day that we read PERC's 5 Myths,
we received a
newsletter
from the American Land Rights Association (ALRA), a group long
dedicated to stopping the permanent funding of the LWCF. The newsletter
urged members to contact their Congressmen to prevent the permanent funding
of the Fund (at almost a billion dollars per year). When we realized that
both groups, economists and lobbyists, were focused on the same goal, we
called Reed to talk to us about the Land & Water Conservation Fund.
Further Reading:
Phone: (406) 587-9591
Email: reed@perc.org
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Douglas W. MacCleery
(08:50)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Private or Public? - A Forest
Policy Discussion
Doug MacCleery is a
Forest Policy
Consultant and has worked in that capacity in both the public and
private sectors nearly all his life. We invited Doug to talk to us today
because of a Commentary
he wrote in The Forestry Source, 4/16, about the forest policy
differences of early forestry leaders in the U.S., Gifford Pinchot and Carl
Schenck. Pinchot "advocated direct federal regulation of private forests,"
while "Schenck's approach was to develop the scientific basis for forest
management and work with forest landowners, farmers, and users to encourage
its effective implementation." Although both men contributed heavily to U.S.
forest management policy, Pinchot is more widely recognized in forestry
professional circles. Doug ends his Commentary with, "It would be nice to
see more discussion and recognition of Carl Schenck's contribution to this
legacy."
The Forest History
Society (FHS) recently produced a documentary film, America's
First Forest: Carl Schenck and the Ashville Experiment, which is
being shown on
Public Television stations all across the U.S. Unfortunately, the film
has already been aired in Alabama. Please contact Jamie Lewis, FHS Historian (jglewis@duke.edu),
if you are interested in arranging for a public screening of the film in
your area.
Phone: (703) 360-6528
Email: ram668@aol.com
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Dave Milton
(12:51)
Hear Conference
Comment |
The Land Show
Dave Milton is the
Broker/Accredited Land Consultant/President of
Southeastern Land
Group. We learned about Dave's Saturday morning radio show,
The Land Show,
while chatting with one of his sales associates at AFOA's 35th Annual
Meeting. The Land Show is on
7
radio stations scattered all over Alabama: Birmingham, Montgomery,
Huntsville/Decatur, Auburn/Opelika/Valley, York-Livingston/Meridian,
Ashland, and Selma. And if it's more convenient for you, the program is
podcast with
archives to all past programs available online.
On Episode 4, Dave talks to Mike Ventry about self-directed IRA's and
buying land with your retirement account, and with Kyle Ingalls about a new
European lumber mill opening in Live Oak, Florida. The Land Show invites you
to listen to the program and even send questions or comments by email to
info@thelandshow.com.
Phone: (256) 496-3500
Email:
dave@selandgroup.com
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John R. Stivers
(17:02)
Hear Conference
Comment |
As a Burner, Are You a Good Neighbor?
John Stivers is a
consulting forester who specializes in prescribed burning. He is
President of the
Alabama Prescribed Fire
Council and active in many other prescribed fire related
organizations. With that in mind, we called John when an AFOA member called
the office, lamenting a problem he was worried about. His neighbor was
planning to burn some newly cleared land right next to his freshly planted
trees, about $10,000 worth. He was concerned that the neighbor didn't have
any training in making his burn, fire breaks were not constructed, and the
neighbor seemed unconcerned when confronted with his lapses in preparation.
We called John to see what he might recommend to our worried friend and to
other landowners who might face similar situations.
As a burner, are you
being a good neighbor? is the theme of the 2016 Annual Meeting of
the Alabama Prescribed Fire Council. The meeting will feature 10
presentations and will take place at Auburn University from 9 AM to 4 PM on
September 1st. The $45 registration fee includes a catered lunch and a 1
year membership in the Council.
At the Alabama Forestry Commission
website:
Phone: (334) 253-2139
Email: rxburning@aol.com
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Bob Williams
(21:46)
Hear Conference
Comment |
A Sign of Good Forestry
Bob Williams is
President of
Pine Creek Forestry
LLC, a consulting forestry firm based in Laurel Springs, New Jersey.
An article in
The Forestry Source, 4/16, described Bob's efforts to ease the
concerns of forestland neighbors when his clients harvest timber - he places
large signs on his client's land with the words: "Growing Forests for the
Future." In A Sign of
Good Forestry, Bob was quoted as follows:
“We must try
these kinds of things. Forestry is quite rare here, so when tree removal
starts, people jump to the conclusion that houses or a new Walmart is
coming. The signs help ease those concerns. Many folks who stop by
typically don’t understand why trees have been cut, but when we speak
with them, they get it—and most are OK with this kind of forestry. And
the landowners are always proud of their land and happy to let people
know they are and what they are trying to do.”
Williams designs the signs and has a professional
sign-maker build them.
“I plan to place more of these signs where thousands of
people will see them,” he said. “I want to try and counter the hundreds
of signs advocating preservation—we need to broaden the perspective of
what true conservation and stewardship really is.”
Phone: (856) 352-2090
Email:
bob@pinecreekforestry.com
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John E. Phillips
(27:44)
Hear Conference
Comment |
Stopping Insect Problems
John Phillips is the author
of more than 100 books and is a founding member of the
Professional Outdoor Media Association.
John even has his own page on Amazon.com! Last fall we read an
article by John in Great Days Outdoors, 10/15, entitled
Survive Early Season Bowhunting’s
Hot Weather, Human Odor Problems, and Mosquitoes & Other
Bugs. We focused on the "Mosquitoes & Other Bugs." In the Bug
Elimination section of the article, he wrote:
Lyme disease is a terrible ailment to
have to deal with, and ticks carry Lyme disease. So, my first layer of
bug protection is Repel Permanone spray and Repel Permethrin clothing
and gear spray (www.repel.com).
Most sporting goods stores sell these products. You spray it onto your
hunting clothes and boots and let it dry. ... You should be able to wash
your clothes several times without having to retreat them with this
product.
Lethal's scent-free Bug Spray (www.lethalproducts.com).
... According to the site, this bug spray is more effective than DEET,
repels bugs and ticks for up to 12 hours and has no scent.
My third line of defense is a ThermaCell (www.thermacell.com).
I've worn and carried the product since it was first introduced and
found it to be extremely effective in keeping mosquitoes away, whether
I'm gardening, hunting, canoeing or fishing.
We especially like John's wrap-up to the Bug
Elimination section: “I’m not really sure which one of these products is the most
effective at keeping biting, stinging and aggravating critters away from me,
but I do know that by using all three, I don’t get bitten, and I don’t have
flying critters around my head.”
For Further Reading:
Phone: (205) 968-3830
Email:
john7185@bellsouth.net
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T. R. Clark
(31:07)
Hear Conference
Comment |
"...too little demand and too much supply..."
T. R. Clark is a
Regional Manager for
F & W Forestry Services,
Inc. based in LaFayette, Alabama. In F & W Forestry Services' Spring
2016
Forestry Report, company president Marshall Thomas wrote:
In the winter
newsletter, I expressed hope that the continuing increase in housing
starts and wet weather might cause a much needed increase in stumpage
prices, especially for sawtimber trees.
Unfortunately, while we had plenty of wet weather,
prices didn't go up much or stay at increased levels long. Just another
illustration that we still have a supply/demand problem for sawtimber in
the U.S. Worse yet, housing starts stayed flat during the first quarter,
once again moving upward more slowly than most forecasts.
Fortunately, most "experts" are saying that the housing
start slowdown is probably temporary, but we have been hearing that for
years. The economy just sent us another signal: there is too little
demand and too much supply, which will probably be here for a while. We
are certainly in a recovery but it is slow and dull.
One of the questions we ask T.R. today is,
If we have timber ready to sell, should we sell it?
Phone: (334) 864-9542
Email:
tclark@fwforestry.com
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