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News, Issues & Information

 

(12/08/23) Own It! How to Develop a Family Enterprise Owner’s Mindset at Every Age. "This is the first book I read that gives a spot-on practical toolkit to help multi-generational business families develop the right ownership mindset."

(12/07/23) Agritourism Liability Law Helps Farmers Reduce Risk is an article in the December 2023 Neighbors magazine (scroll to page 6). For those of you who may want to invite the public onto your land for birdwatching, camping, hiking, etc., Alabama's Agritourism Liability Law may help you avoid a lawsuit if someone gets hurt on your property. Ask your lawyer for advice.

(12/06/23) Boise Cascade saves plywood operations, curtails lumber operations in Alabama. Source: Woodworking Network, 11/29/23.

(12/05/23) "Surface rights determine who owns the rights to the surface of the land, while mineral rights determine who has the right to mine the minerals below the surface of the property. Interestingly, mineral rights can be separate from actual land ownership. This can lead to some unique challenges for those looking to buy land." Read more: Mineral Rights: The Hitch That Can Halt a Sale, LandThink.com, 11/14/23.

(12/04/23) The Burning Question by Billy Rye was published in Cooperative Farming News, August/September 2023.

(12/01/23) Timber Tax: Landowner Issues and Considerations is a webinar sponsored by NC State Extension Forestry which was presented yesterday, November 30, 2023. Kevin Burkett, CPA, Assistant Director of Clemson Tax School, and Kurt Smith, Extension Specialist at NC State University are the presenters. Slides for the presentations are available on the webinar portal. About 66 minutes.

(11/30/23) A Deep Dive into the 2022 Cost and Cost Trends of Southern U.S. Forest Practices. This 54 minute webinar was hosted by Forest Landowners Association on 11/15/23 and featured Adam Maggard, Harry E. Murphy Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, Auburn University. About 54 minutes.

(11/29/23) Timber Harvesting Systems, with Tom Gallagher, Auburn University College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Environment, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 61 minutes.

(11/28/23) Have people gone completely nuts? American Airlines has agreed to pay $100 per ton to have sawdust compressed into bricks and buried to lock up the carbon for "a thousand years." Smart sawmills, dumb airline. Source: The Verge, 11/28/23 and The Wall Street Journal, 11/28/23. The Journal is behind a paywall.

(11/22/23) Alabama again finds itself in the top position in CATO Institute's "Land-Use Freedom" category of its Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom.

(11/21/23) After the Storm: "Tornadoes and other severe storms have always been a risk to timber ownership. Unfortunately, there is no affordable insurance program for timberland owners of less than 100,000 acres. So, when timber damage occurs, owners are often left with three options; do nothing, salvage the timber, or take a loss." Source: Kingwood Forestry Services Summer 2023 Newsletter. Good article with several good examples.

(11/20/23) Drought Conditions May Impact Seedling Survival Across the South and Southeastern United States, Management Alert 23-01, Southern Forest Nursery Management Cooperative. Depending on the location where you plan to plant seedlings this year, it may be wise to wait for rain before planting.

(11/17/23) Alabama Forestry Commission Makes Changes to ‘No Burn’ Order. "With rainfall amounts varying across the state this week, the AFC is lifting the No Burn order (see details) in 33 counties in the southern half of the state (see map).

(11/16/23) Primer on the Effects of Fire in Eastern Oak Forests. "Fire creates an environment that allows the regeneration of oaks and other tree species and stimulates the germination of a diverse assemblage of herbaceous plants in the understory." 20 pages.

(11/15/23) The Ten Commandments for Better Bareroot and Container Seedling Survival, with Nina Dowling Payne, Southern Forest Nursery Management Cooperative, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 52 minutes.

(11/14/23) Improving Water Quality: Practicing Best Management by Billy Rye was published in Cooperative Farming News, June/July 2023. Alabama's Best Management Practices Guidelines.

(11/13/23) Biomass Leader Enviva Plunges Amid Debt Chaos, Replaces CEO. (Bloomberg) -- "Enviva Inc., the world’s largest producer of wood pellets for power plants, warned it may not be able to continue operating after losses surged."

(11/10/23) Alabama Hunters Make It Two in a Row with No Fatalities. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources reported today: "Alabama hunters deserve a roaring round of applause for their safety awareness. Not only did hunters complete the 2021-2022 hunting seasons without any hunting-related fatalities, a first for Alabama since accidents started being recorded in 1974, they also repeated the phenomenal achievement with no hunting-related fatalities for the 2022-2023 seasons." Reports like this can help keep hunting liability insurance rates low. Encourage the hunters who lease your land to be safety conscious.

(11/09/23) Governor Ivey Prohibits Burning Statewide: She signed a statewide Drought Emergency Declaration which prohibits all outdoor burning in Alabama. The order became effective this morning at 8 am and will remain in effect until rescinded by the State Forester. No campfires, either.

(11/07/23) "Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Proposes to List Natural Asset Companies (NACs) on Wall Street." Our friends at American Stewards of Liberty, Margaret and Dan Byefield have urged AFOA to inform you about the issues surrounding NACs. An amendment to defund the SEC's proposed rule approving NACs will possibly be voted on in the US House today. Unfortunately, your editor is having a hard time understanding the significance of the recognition of NACs and how it might affect private forest owners. Please send comments to RLL@AFOA.ORG. Thanks.

(11/06/23) State renovations to Interstate 10 in Texas caused serious flooding on private farmland. Landowner sues state for damages. State won't pay. Case goes to U.S. Supreme Court. Read: A Texas Farmer's Case Heads to the Supreme Court—After the State Refuses to Compensate Him for Property It Destroyed, FEE, 10/31/23.

(11/03/23) Cellular Security Cameras: "For owners of remote or rural properties, a cellular security camera has emerged as a great solution to safeguarding homes, properties, and loved ones. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi cameras that rely on a stable internet connection, cellular security cameras operate independently, tapping into cellular networks to provide surveillance." While the linked article from Great Days Outdoors, 10/17/23, promotes one brand of camera, there are many on the market. Click here for ideas. Also, for further reading.

(11/02/23) Building Trails on Your Property with Ann Savage, North Carolina State University, is a 51 minute webinar recorded earlier today. Ann mentions an upcoming American Trails Association webinar. Click here for details of several.

(11/01/23) "I was horrified..." In the November issue of Virginia Forest Landowner e-Update, Extension Forester Jennifer Gagnon describes her first contact with a deer hunter as a child and her slow but steady conversion to someone who understands the need for hunting and who now enjoys eating venison harvested from her land. If you are a Bambi lover and find it hard to appreciate deer hunting, Jennifer's story is for you.

(10/30/23) The Mindset of a Forest Landowner: Buy Dirt. Enjoy listening to Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan as they help you understand, "If you want my two cents on making a dollar count, Buy Dirt." Read Pete Williams' take on "Buy Dirt" on page 5 of AFOA's Capital Ideas, November 2023.

(10/27/23) Fastmarkets (10/12/23) reports "a promising future for southern yellow pine." They project "US lumber consumption to grow by 18% through 2027."

(10/26/23) Five of the presentations made at our 2023 Annual Meeting have been posted to the web with more to come. They are:

(10/25/23) Alabama's Fire Alert Reinstated to Include All 67 Counties.

(10/23/23) The 2022 Forest Resource Report, produced by the Alabama Forestry Commission "pulls in county-level Forest Inventory & Analysis data to report on values such as forested acres by stand type and size class. There are estimated timber volumes for key species, estimated timber volume growth, and estimated harvest removal. Using forest product severance tax numbers, the Commission can share very detailed information on how much harvested timber is coming from each county and in what product types. There is also current economic information, news about new forest industry in the state" and more. 58 pages.

(10/20/23) Upstream Gifting: "When wealth passes between generations, it generally flows downstream, passing from an older generation to a younger one. Under certain circumstances, though, taking a detour in the other direction can help save you some money in taxes." Source: How Passing Assets to Parents Can Lower Taxes, Charles Schwab, 10/12/23.

(10/19/23) This Land Is My Land. "A 21-year-old from Los Angeles went viral on TikTok last week with a video showing how he bought a small patch of land in Joshua Tree for $200. He told Insider he made the purchase because he thought it would feel good to stand on grounds that he owned..."

(10/18/23) This week is National Forest Products Week. "The U.S. South, nicknamed the world’s wood basket, accounts for over half of all sustainable timber production in the country and generates more than $251 billion (about $770 per person in the U.S.) annually in economic contributions."

(10/17/23) Row-Crop Farmers Unhappy with Damage from Deer Populations in Some Areas of the State. Alfa's AgCast discussed ideas and Alfa policy that might reduce deer/farmer conflicts (audio - about 24 minutes). Farmers who have deer population problems can obtain Deer Depredation Permits from Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, but the venison cannot be consumed by the farmers or those who help them remove the deer from their land.

(10/16/23) F&W Forestry Report, always an interesting newsletter, contains a story this quarter, Fall 2023, on Timber Theft (pages 4 & 5) including a sidebar - What is Timber Theft? - that all forest owners should read. The newsletter also includes commentary on timber markets and a report on agricultural land values across the U.S.

(10/13/23) Threatened & Endangered Species of Alabama: What you should know, with Ray Metzler, Alabama Forestry Commission, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 65 minutes.

(10/12/23) "Classifying Hardwood Timber for Harvest Purposes" is the latest issue of Back Porch Forestry produced by Dr. David Mercker, Extension Forester at the University of Tennessee. Unfortunately, David reports that this will be the last issue of Back Porch Forestry. We hope he surprises us with a new series that will be equally as informative.

(10/11/23) Remember the Carbon Credit buyers, NCX? Several of their staff attended our 2022 Annual Meeting and Alex Macintosh described their program on Saturday morning, April 9. In the Southwest Mississippi Forestry Newsletter, September 2023, Curtis VanderSchaaf describes NCX's program and why they are no longer buying carbon credits.

(10/10/23) If you are thinking about moving to be closer to your kids, you might want to look at the Tax Foundation's Map of Estate and Inheritance Taxes before finalizing your plans.

(10/09/23) Contrary to what you might believe, if you are a member of Alabama Forest Owners' Association, everyone doesn't support private ownership of forestland. Protesters broke windows at the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon where the Who Will Own the Forest? conference was being held last month. Many timberland advisors and investors from the South were in attendance.

(10/06/23) The insanity continues. Bioenergy Insight reported last week: Macron to convert France's remaining coal-fired power plants to biomass. Macron's decision will be good for our wood pellet manufacturers, and good for landowners who benefit from the sale of low quality wood, but, but ...

(10/05/23) Fire Lines is the bimonthly newsletter of the Southern Fire Exchange, a regional organization focused on the interests of prescribed burners. The September 2023 issue is packed full of news and events.

(10/04/23) Qualities that set apart recreational land as a low risk investment in any market. In a 7-minute video, Real Estate Broker Pat Porter "covers some of the major aspects that any recreational land buyer should focus on in order to achieve low risk investment and to understand where their highest risks come from." Source: LandThink.com, 9/26/23.

(10/03/23) "For those living off-the-grid or using Starlink as a network redundancy in case of a grid failure, the SpaceX-owned space internet company announced on X that the service is now available across the Lower 48 after deploying next-generation satellites." Source: ZeroHedge, 10/2/23.

(10/02/23) How Many Loblolly Pine Seedlings Should I Plant And At What Spacing? Mississippi State's Dr. Curtis VanderSchaaf discusses that question in TreeLines, September 2023. Planting Contracts were featured, below, on January 4, 2022.

(09/28/23) 2023 North Georgia Prescribed Fire Council Meeting: The presentations were recorded and can be watched as a group or individually. Topics included Fire & Turkey Habitat, Fire Initiatives for Private Landowners, Reintroduction of Prescribed Fire to Fire Suppressed Pine, and others.

(09/27/23) Study Finds No Effect of LEED Certification on Federal Buildings' Energy Efficiency. LEED Certification is "the most widely used green building rating system in the world." Editor's Note: May we be permitted to question whether expensive green forest certification programs such as Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) have had any significant positive effect on the quality of mom & pop forest management activities in Alabama? We suspect none.

(09/26/23) Insider Business takes a look at the process of making cardboard boxes. Well done video -- about 12 minutes.

(09/25/23) Because of the current drought situation in Alabama, the Alabama Forestry Commission issued a Statewide Fire Alert on Friday.

(09/22/23) Fall Bird Migration is Upon Us. Click here to see what's going on in the skies above Alabama. Learn more about bird migration.

(09/21/23) Timber Tech Revolution: Forests are thriving and high-tech mills are popping up across the Southern U.S. Short write-up features an Alabama sawmill. The embedded 3 minute RFD TV story is a must-watch.

(09/20/23) New Forest Landowner? Learn Your Next Steps. This 47 minute webinar was hosted by Forest Landowners Association on 9/14/23 and featured Chris Miller, Director of Real Estate Services for American Forest Management. Webinar begins at about the 2 minute mark. If you are considering hiring a consulting forester to help you on your land, find one at www.ForesterSearch.com.

(09/19/23) An Easement "may have been in place for a long time, and it can last for any specified amount of time, or even forever..." Read more: Handling Easements Attached to Rural Property, LandThink, 9/5/23.

(09/18/23) Wildfires wipe out income for Louisiana forest landowners: "For many people, the towering pines that define the landscape of this rural region represent family inheritances, years of investment and hopes for the future. Growing trees takes a long time, but the cash they bring in when cut is worth the wait. This summer’s fires have dimmed those prospects for some."

(09/15/23) Property Taxes: For forest owners, Alabama is one of the best states in the U.S. to invest your capital - for many reasons, including our low property taxes. While the Tax Foundation's article, Where Do People Pay the Most in Property Taxes, doesn't focus on forestland, it will give you a general idea which states and even which counties in Alabama encourage property ownership.

(09/14/23) Drone Applications in Forest Vegetation Management with Corey Craig, IVM Solutions, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 58 minutes.

(09/13/23) "Tree Growth Characteristics" and "Crop Budget for Hardwood Timber" are the latest issues of Back Porch Forestry produced by Dr. David Mercker, Extension Forester at the University of Tennessee.

(09/11/23) A Tale of Two [Lumber Production] Regions is an interesting discussion of lumber production and related log prices in the Western US and the South. Source: Forest Research Notes, Volume 20, No. 2. "US [lumber] production peaked at 40.5 BBF [billion board feet] in 2005, then collapsed along with housing starts and much of the global economy. Production then rose steadily from the low of 23.3 BBF (lowest of the past 60 years) in 2009 to 37.6 BBF in 2022." Forest Research Notes Archive.

(09/08/23) 600 Square Miles: "Start with 383,934 acres of US farmland. Divide that total by the number of acres in a square mile — 640 — and it yields just shy of 600 square miles. According to the US Department of Agriculture, that’s the total amount of US farmland currently owned by Chinese investors today." That’s the cover story of the Summer 2023 issue of The Land Report. Scroll to page 98. On page 102 the article says Canadians own more than 20,000 square miles of US Ag lands.

(09/06/23) The Land Show, Episode 407, talked to Ryan Basinger, with Westervelt Wildlife Services. Ryan described "what landowners and hunting club members can be doing to get their property ready for the upcoming dove and deer seasons." Ryan is the first guest on the show from 4:30 to 17:41.

(09/05/23) The Feather Atlas: Have you ever seen a feather lying on the ground and wondered what kind of bird left it there? The Feather Atlas provides Browse, Search, and Identify features that will help you identify the birds that live on your land. Enjoy.

(09/01/23) Forisk News, Q3 2023, August 16, 2023, contains a page full of highlights on Lumber, Pulp & Paper, Wood Bioenergy, Timber Markets, Timberland Investments, and more. Scroll to page 2.

(08/30/23) Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in the Southern Region (Download PDF) "This guidebook will take you step-by-step through the processes involved in planning, preparing for and conducting a prescribed fire on your land." Printed copies may be available in the future. If you have any questions about the Guidebook, please contact Leslie Boby.

(08/29/23) Fire Danger Advisory Issued 8/25/23 for Southwest Counties of Alabama. Regional Forester Benji Elmore said today that the advisory "will continue for a few more days until we get good rain coverage."

(08/28/23) The Science and Art of Family Business Trusts. This webinar, produced and recorded by The Family Business Consulting Group on August 9, will be of interest to some forest owners, but won't be for everyone. Click here for the recording - about 1 hour.

(08/25/23) The US is predicted to become a net exporter of softwood lumber by 2027. "The US will ... overtake Canada as North America’s leading offshore supplier within the next five years as production capacity increases, according to Fastmarkets’ latest forecast."

(08/23/23) Are you harming deer when you feed them? Kip Adams, National Deer Association, suspects you are. Read: Can Baiting and Feeding Really Spread Deer Diseases Faster?, NDA, 8/9/23.

(08/22/23) Do These 5 Things Before Putting Your Land on the Market, advises Tom Brickman, Real Estate Broker & Forester with Cyprus Partners, on LandThink, 8/1/23.

(08/21/23) The Moves Wealthy Families Are Making to Skirt Estate Taxes: How dynasty trusts can shield wealth before the Trump tax cuts expire (new link 9/6/23). Source: The Wall Street Journal, 8/19/23.

(08/18/23) "Alabama Power cancels Chandler Mountain project after massive public pushback - 'Sometimes David does beat Goliath,'" reported 1819 News yesterday. Unfortunately David didn't beat Goliath and Goliath is not Alabama Power. Goliath is a collection of government regulations and incentives that are steadily pushing Alabama Power Company and all other electric generators to buy solar power and close down efficient coal, gas, nuclear, and hydro power sources. Landowners were saved today from the power of eminent domain, but cancelling this project will not put off the brown-outs and black-outs just over the horizon.

(08/17/23) Insect and fungal pests of southern hardwood forests with Dave Coyle, Clemson University, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 70 minutes.

(08/16/23) President of Alabama Public Service Commission Voices Strong Opposition to Chandler Mountain Pumped Storage Scheme. The project, which is designed to store energy produced by solar farms, may use the power of eminent to domain to acquire needed land.

(08/15/23) "BASF [Arsenal Herbicide, Chopper GEN2], the biggest chemical producer in the world and a pillar of the German economy founded over 150 years ago, warned that the [German] economy was uncompetitive due to high energy costs and would downsize permanently. It has relocated its investments to the US and China where energy costs are a fifth as expensive." Source: The Not-So-Strange Death of Europe: Cultural Sacrifice At The Altar of Gaia, Forbes, 8/13/23.

(08/14/23) Goats as a Solution to Wildfires: In Spain; In California.

(08/11/23) 3 Hog Hunters Die in Underground Tank Possibly Attempting to Rescue Dog: Sheriff. If you have abandoned open wells, cisterns, vertical mine shafts, or similar hazards on your land, it's a good idea to make an effort to prevent accidents like the hog hunters fell into.

(08/10/23) The Changing Landscape -- Everything Agricultural Employers Should Understand About Farm Labor Law. This webinar was conducted yesterday by the National Agricultural Law Center. We suspect most forest owners won't be interested in the webinar, but for those of you who have paid help on your land, this webinar may save you lots of grief.

(08/08/23) Beware of Logging Scam! The Alabama Forestry Commission is warning forest landowners to beware of a timber cutting scam. The permit / "lumberjack" contract shown in this photo is a fake. Neither Rafael Ruis Delvizo nor the Lumber Tech Frames Inc. are representatives of the Alabama Forestry Commission and are in no way affiliated with the agency. If you are contacted or have been approached by anyone using this counterfeit document, please contact Scott Rouse, Deputy Attorney General for the Alabama Forestry Commission, at (334) 328-7831.

(08/07/23) Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Biologists Available to Help with Hunting Season Preparations reported David Rainer last week. "We have a Technical Assistance biologist in each district now that is a free service. ... Just get in touch with your district office to make an appointment. They can definitely give you some advice on what to do to get ready and what you can do to improve things down the road. They can help you determine what is realistic for your property, and each situation is a little different."

(08/04/23) Alabama REMC-(Rural Electric Membership Co-ops) Owned Statewide Broadband Network Chooses Engineering Firm. This notice will be of interest to those landowners who live in rural areas with little or no broadband internet service, or to those landowners who recognize the increase in value their land will acquire when broadband becomes available.

(08/03/23) Marketing Hardwood Timber with David Mercker, University of Tennessee, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 58 minutes.

(08/02/23) Expect to See Alligators Throughout Alabama. “Alligators eat beavers, muskrats, deer, if they can catch it, or a coyote,” [reported Jud Easterwood, Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries’ Supervising Wildlife Biologist in District I in north Alabama]. “A dog coming through a shallow water swamp is no different from any of those animals. They are just natural prey to an alligator, not unnatural at all." Source: Alabama Outdoors, author David Rainer, 7/13/23.

(08/01/23) How I Got Legal Access to This Tract is a 6 minute video produced by real estate broker Pat Porter. Interesting, useful, and to the point.

(07/31/23) The U.S. Department of Energy plans to spend $23.8 million to remove carbon from the emissions at Georgia-Pacific's Alabama River Cellulose pulp and paper mill in Monroe County, Alabama. The carbon dioxide will be pumped 4,000 feet down into a brine reservoir, and supposedly stored there forever. We wonder if the brine reservoir being used to store CO2 forever might be the same brine reservoir (Smackover Formation) in which Exxon Mobil has invested $100,000,000 in Arkansas and is planning to annually extract 100,000 metric tons of lithium?

(07/27/23) Private forests provide the raw material for lumber, paper, energy, pellets and a whole lot more, and at the same time they provide wildlife habitat, jobs, recreation, clean water, and a host of other benefits. AND while they do all that, the private forests in the lower 48 states sequestered enough carbon to offset more than half of the private car emissions in those same states. To prepare yourself for the next debate with your Aunt Martha, who thinks trees should never be cut so they will store the maximum amount of carbon to prevent global warming, read: Private Forests Doing Public (Carbon) Good by Eric Kingsley, Forest Resources Association, 7/13/23.

(07/26/23) Southern Pine Beetle (SPB) in Alabama: "We are detecting more beetle spots this year than last year. Aerial surveys have been completed for most of the western counties," reported Dana Stone, Forest Management Division Director, Alabama Forestry Commission, 7/26/23. After opening the Commission's map, zoom in to see exactly where beetle spots are located. You can select "Imagery Hybrid" in the "Basemap Gallery" (located under the words "Insect and Disease Map") to see names of map features such as towns and highway names on a photo-like image. There are lots of spots near the Bankhead National Forest (Lawrence & Winston counties), and in Pickens, Hale, Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Monroe, and Conecuh counties.

(07/25/23) Costs and Trends Survey of Southern Forestry Practices: "The latest survey was conducted to capture forestry management activities in 2022. Along with this survey, a comprehensive online dashboard was created that includes all data from 1952 through the 2022 survey." Video: about 41 minutes. See also 4/17/23 and recent past reports.

(07/21/23) Forest Markets Newsletter is published each Friday by the National Association of State Foresters. It contains a couple dozen news headlines each week which frequently report on news and issues that we pass along to you, both on this page and in our monthly newsletter, Capital Ideas.

(07/20/23) Cost-Share for Southern Pine Beetle Prevention is a new program available through the Alabama Forestry Commission. The application window is from July 14, 2023 through August 31, 2023. Prevention practices that are available for incentive payments:

  • First commercial thinning of loblolly or shortleaf pine stand
  • Understory prescribed burning of loblolly or shortleaf pine stand
  • Low-density loblolly pine planting for suitable sites

(07/19/23) Is the Supreme Court putting 'a thumb on the scale for property owners'? The question is asked by The Pacific Legal Foundation and answered by them with another question: "When the government tries to wrest control over a piece of private property, shouldn't there be a starting presumption in favor of the property's owner?"

(07/17/23) Alabama Private Forests will be broadcast on Alabama Public Television on Thursday, July 20 at 8 pm. The 54 minute video was produced by Discovering Alabama with host Dr. Doug Phillips. If you can't wait until Thursday, or want to watch the video at some later date, click here for an archived copy.

(07/14/23) The Ground at My Feet: Sustaining a Family and a Forest by Ann Stinson is "a memoir about loss and grief as well as a portrait of a family, a region, and an industry." $19.54 in paperback at Amazon. A brief excerpt from the book was reprinted in National Woodlands magazine, Volume 46, Number 3.

(07/13/23) Death & Taxes: Did you know that "When someone dies, their surviving spouse or representative must file a final tax return for the deceased person."? Source: DeLoach, Barber & Caspers, P.C. Newsletter, July 2023.

(07/12/23) Fueling a Freer Future is a series of short videos produced by the Auburn-based Mises Institute. After watching on Monday as dozens of homeowners, farmers, and others begged Alabama Power Company to not take their property to build a pumped storage hydropower plant in the Steele area, and being surprised that none of the supplicants recognized that green energy lobbyists and their solar farms were the driving force behind the project and the threatened use of the power of eminent domain, we thought it might be useful for you to view Mises' short stories.

(07/11/23) Challenges to Bottomland Hardwood Forest Management in the U. S. South with John Tracy, University of Florida, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 53 minutes.

(07/10/23) Two more Pumped Storage Hydropower plants (today the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held public hearings in Rainbow City on Alabama Power's Chandler Mountain plans) have been proposed for Jackson County, Alabama. These proposals include the threat of eminent domain. Editor's Note: Interestingly, of the many heartfelt comments presented by landowners to FERC today in Rainbow City, no one suggested that lawmakers should repeal tax and other incentives that are encouraging the construction of solar farms, the cause of potential brown-out and black-out episodes.

(07/07/23) See Inside One of America's Last Pencil Factories: The family-owned facility in Tennessee produces more than 70 million pencils annually. Editor's note: Along with being a big user of pencils (remember drafting classes years ago?), we've shared Lawrence Read's I, Pencil, many times since reading it the first time back in the '80s.

(07/06/23) In Thinking Smartly About Climate Change, Imprimus, April/May 2023, Bjorn Lomborg discusses the economic costs of climate policy and questions whether we are making the right decisions. Editor's note: I question the policy that forces me to buy gasoline intentionally contaminated with ethanol -- my cars and trucks run less efficiently and I have to drive extra miles each year to buy non-ethanol gas for lawn mowers and chainsaws to prevent gummed-up carburetors. Tax and other incentives to build solar and wind farms may cause a collapse of our power grid, and may be the driving force behind projects such as Alabama Power's controversial Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Generating Facility on Chandler Mountain in St. Clair County.

(07/05/23) Access to Broadband: For many who live in rural areas of Alabama, lack of access to a broadband internet connection is very important. So...  Last week, "President Biden announced $42 billion in funding to build internet infrastructure across the country, with the goal of getting every American connected to the internet by 2030." The initiative "aims to bring high-speed internet to the roughly 8.5 million households and small businesses that are still lacking this infrastructure." "Doing the math, Rep. Thomas Massie pointed out that it will cost about $4,941 for each family that is connected to the internet. By contrast, Elon Musk’s Starlink can do the job for $599 per family, he noted."

(06/29/23) Hunting Lease Basics for Landowners, written by Sarah S. Snipes and published by Forest Resource Consultants' Summer 2023 Newsletter, featured comments from the Alabama Forest Owners' Association.

(06/28/23) Wealth Taxes to come before the U.S. Supreme Court. As property tax payers, we know that state and local governments have the right to tax wealth. In Alabama, the bills arrive shortly after October 1st. And while not related to the Supreme Court case, the Biden administration has proposed wealth taxes, see 4/6/22, below. "The Supreme Court’s decision to hear Moore v. US is very good news for Americans,” said Competitive Enterprise Institute general counsel Dan Greenberg. “A century of precedent shows that – in order to be taxed – income requires realization: this means that income taxes can only be levied on realized income." See also: Norway's Wealth Tax is Backfiring. Are Americans Paying Attention?

(06/27/23) Tell us all about the Alabama Forest Owners' Association. AFOA's Lee Laechelt was a guest on The Land Show, Episode 399 a few days ago. Audio: From 19:44 to 38:50. Also, in his wrap-up to the show, host Jonathan Goode reported on recent real estate scams and potential red flags that you should be aware of when purchasing land. Begins at 52:49. 

(06/26/23) How to Make an Offer on Rural Land. "Buying land is an exciting prospect. You get to think about what kind of place you want it to be, customize it how you want, and envision how it will be for you and your family for years to come. What if the seller accepts? What if they don’t? And what are the steps involved with making an offer on rural land in general?" Source: Tom Brickman, Cyprus Partners, LandThink.com, 5/30/23.

(06/23/23) Virginia Wildlife Agents Came Onto His Land and Stole His Camera. Now He's Suing. Reason, 6/8/23. See related articles from Fox News and Institute for Justice plus copy of Henrico County Lawsuit.

(06/22/23) Family Business Transitions Gone Wrong is the theme of The June Dispatch. Davon Cook discusses "Faulty Assumptions in Ownership Transitions," Ethan Smith touches on "Communications Failures in Management Transitions," and Lance Woodbury wraps up the Dispatch with "Relationship Mistakes in Family Transitions."

(06/21/23) Introducing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program with Rob Hurt, Lee Holt, Jeffrey Drummond, and Matt Hodges, all with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Alabama, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 60 minutes.

(06/20/23) Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Generating Facility is being planned by Alabama Power Company for the northeast end of Chandler Mountain in St. Clair County. Probably most landowners in the affected area already know about this plan, since the power company already owns much of the land in the reservoir areas. We suspect the power of eminent domain will be used to encourage any holdouts to sell.

(06/19/23) "Israel-based DSRaider developed the EZRaider line of ATVs to provide a solution for navigating rough terrain that was previously only passable by foot. With a more narrow design than traditional ATVs and 4×4 quads, the EZRaider can squeeze through, around and over obstacles." But Pricey.

(06/16/23) Florida Records Its First Case of Chronic Wasting Disease. "Florida is the 32nd state to confirm the presence of the always-fatal neurological disease." Alabama's Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Division will increase testing for the disease in Southeast Alabama.

(06/15/23) The Tourism Development Newsletter of The University of Alabama, June 14, 2023, includes a section on Birding. "Over 430 different bird species have been spotted in Alabama." No mention in the Newsletter that birds might be found on private land. See Alabama Farm Offers Bird Watching Tours, below.

(06/14/23) "Your opinions are needed! Help [NC State University] understand impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to southeast forest landowners ... Your responses will help strengthen landowner programs, forestry markets, and forest management policy." Open the survey here.

(06/13/23) Governor Kay Ivey, on May 31, signed the Property Protection Act into law. "The bill, HB379, will restrict specific entities or 'foreign principals' from certain countries from obtaining agricultural property as well as property on or near a military installation or certain infrastructure facility. The foreign countries include China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia." On June 7, Politico reported, "Chinese citizens seek to block Florida’s law banning them from owning property."

(06/12/23) Southern pulpwood production, 2021, a Resource Bulletin from US Forest Service Southern Research Station, 2023. "The South’s production of pulpwood increased from 57.0 million cords in 2020 to 59.0 million cords in 2021. ... Alabama and Georgia led the South in total production... 73 mills were operating and drawing wood from the 13 Southern States." See also: Huber Engineered Woods Announces Plans to Locate its New Mill in Noxubee County, Mississippi, in Response to Strong Market Demand for its Specialty Products, 6/7/23; and North Escambia [Florida] business planning $62M expansion and 30 new jobs, 6/7/23.

(06/09/23) Managing Home & Community Landscapes with Wildfire in Mind with Holly Campbell, University of Georgia, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 57 minutes.

(06/08/23) Canadian Forest Fire Smoke Dominated Wildfire News of The Day today. Of the dozen news stories lifted from Wildfire News, here, we thought the following three the most interesting:

(06/07/23) Tax Considerations For Those Affected By Natural Disasters (Casualty Loss Tax Deductions and Determining Your Basis) was presented last week by Dr. Tamara Cushing, University of Florida. This webinar is the first in a series on Hurricane Preparation & Recovery. Video: about 67 minutes.

(06/06/23) "How clever of the climate to know exactly the boundary line between the private and federal lands and only devastate those on the federal side of the boundary line," remarked Rep. Tom McClintock during a House Natural Resources Subcommittee legislative hearing. Editor's note: Listen to the short video from the hearing (the sound problem is fixed after a few seconds), and perhaps you will join us in questioning federal or state ownership of any forest lands.

(06/05/23) Randolph County Revenue Commissioner aggressively reassessed forestland as lakefront property. Forest owner Keith Warren’s family has owned their forestland in Randolph County before Lake Wedowee/Lake Harris was created. Their land has been assessed as forestland (see Current Use) until recently when the assessment was raised 400 percent. Warren doesn’t agree with the change in assessment and has scheduled a meeting with the assessor this coming Friday, June 9. If you can offer help or advice to Keith, please send a note to AFOA at RLL@AFOA.ORG and we’ll forward it to him. Thanks!

(06/02/23) Tree Planting in the South is done mostly by Central Americans brought to the U.S. legally by contractors using H-2B Visas. If you would like to encourage LEGAL Migrant Workers who return to their country of origin when the planting work is done, the Forest Resources Association would like your help to "Urge your Representative to Support DHS Appropriations Bill." Read full details here.

(06/01/23) Developing Goals and Objectives for Your Forestland. "Many of you have, or will eventually, meet with a forester or other natural resource professional to get help managing your land. This could be to sell your timber, to create wildlife habitat, to plant a riparian buffer, or to start many other projects." Continue reading the June 2023 Virginia Forest Landowner e-Update.

(05/31/23) Ten Things Forest Landowners Should Do Before They Thin Their Pines by Billy Rye was published in Cooperative Farming News, April/May 2023.

(05/30/23) Two 'Mompreneurs' Created a Forest School That Reaches Thousands. "What began as a weekly outdoor meet-up with a handful of local families has now become Barefoot University, a national, non-profit forest school that reaches over 3,000 learners in six states, with nine states set for next year."

(05/26/23) Pig Poison: Mark Smith, Wildlife Extension Specialist at Auburn University, presented earlier this week A Short and Practical Review of the Science Behind Toxicants for Wild Pig Control. It is the latest in Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 61 minutes.

(05/25/23) U.S. Supreme Court decided today that a water of the U.S. must be "a relatively permanent body of water connected to traditional interstate navigable waters," and holds that “the Clean Water Act extends to only those ‘wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are “waters of the United States” in their own right,’ so that they are ‘indistinguishable’ from those waters.” Source: Pacific Legal Foundation, 5/25/23. See also: Supreme Court Protects Property Rights from Federal Overreach.

(05/24/23) "Log supplies ... at sawmills in 2023 vary widely based on weather and 'whether.'" The stumpage market when seen through the eyes of railroad tie manufacturers may give forest owners a better understanding of the complexities in the wood supply chain. Source: Crossties, March/April 2023.

(05/23/23) The Forest Technology program at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College "trains students for the position of forest technician. The technician is an employee who works under the direction of a professional (BS degree) forester and will undertake the fieldwork that is necessary to manage the forest. A career as a forest technician involves a variety of challenging jobs including timber inventory, procurement, maintenance of forest roads, forest management, forest stand improvement, fire and pest control, soil and water conservation, wildlife management, harvest planning, logging, cartography, and surveying. Technicians work outside in all kinds of weather and have to do some office work."

(05/19/23) The Alabama Mushroom Society Newsletter, April 2023, contains a report with photos on their recent morel foray, the "mushroom of the month," a new book on edible Alabama mushrooms, and an "In The Kitchen" recipe. Read more at https://alabamamushroomsociety.org/.

(05/18/23) US Wood Pellet Exports Up In March, reported USDA Foreign Agricultural Service on May 4. That's good news unless you own Enviva stock. WFAE 90.7 in Charlotte, North Carolina reported on May 5, Shares of Wood Pellet Maker Enviva Plummet As Losses Widen. As of May 18, 2023 at 1:13 PM CDT Enviva shares were worth $8.40. A year ago they were valued at $72.86.

(05/17/23) Forisk News, Q2, 2023, contains lots of market related information you may find interesting. If you are planning to buy forestland, you will likely find helpful the map in Southern Pine Timber Inventory Outlook under Research Highlights. Hint: Avoid dark green areas where pines are growing twice as fast as they are being harvested.

(05/16/23) Volatile Timber Markets and Implications for Future Forest Management by Billy Rye was published in Cooperative Farming News, February/March 2023.

(05/15/23) Three bills being debated in Montgomery may be of interest to forest owners:

(05/12/23) Introduction to and Management of Pine-Hardwood Mixtures with David Clabo, University of Georgia, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 63 minutes. You may also want to watch Managing Stands of Mixed Pine & Hardwood presented by John Willis at our 2019 Annual Meeting.

(05/11/23) Alabama gets $1 million to map mineral resources, AL.com, 5/5/23. "The survey will be concentrated in an area of [East]-Central Alabama known as the Graphite Belt, and look for minerals such as aluminum, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, germanium, graphite, rare earth metals, tin, tungsten, vanadium and others." 

(05/09/23) What's My Timber Worth? Understanding the Variables That Affect Timber Prices by Billy Rye was published in Cooperative Farming News, December 2022/January 2023. If you plan to grow pine sawtimber, it might be a good idea to study the map on the second page of Billy's article.

(05/08/23) Jackson Pellets held a ribbon cutting ($21 million investment from Denmark), and Kronospan in Oxford, Alabama announced construction of new, state of the art, Oriented Strand Board manufacturing plant ($350 million investment from Austria). Both announcements were good news for forest owners who need markets for first thinnings and low quality wood.

(05/05/23) Paxton Furniture shifts production from China to Mississippi reported Woodworking Network on May 1, 2023. "Reshoring." It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

(05/04/23) Never take no for an answer. Even though the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service concluded in October 2022 that "the risk factors acting on the gopher tortoise and its habitat, either singly or in combination, are not of sufficient imminence, scope, or magnitude" to warrant threatened or endangered status, The Center for Biological Diversity and Nokuse Education filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its decision.

(05/03/23) Forest Finance Simplified, 6th Edition, by Brooks Mendell, Ph.D., "distills forest finance themes into a question-and-answer format for those who want an accessible reference or introduction to forest management decision-making and timber investments." Cost: $35 plus shipping & tax.

(05/02/23) The Southern Fox Squirrel with Mike Conner, The Jones Center at Ichauway, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 55 minutes.

(05/01/23) It is with great sadness that we report today that William A. "Will" Freise, President of Alabama Forest Owners' Association, passed away last Thursday, April 27, 2023. Will joined the association back in 1992 and frequently made suggestions to the staff on how to improve the information and services provided to the members. Will joined the Board of Directors in 2011 and was elected President of the Association in May of 2021. 

(04/27/23) Housing Market Forecast 2023-24: The Myth of Massive Underbuilding by Bill Conerly, Forbes, April 18, 2023, suggests the demographic push to build more houses, especially single family houses that use more lumber, may not be as strong as many projections have indicated.

(04/26/23) Common Ticks of North Carolina: An Identification Guide by Bertone, Reiskind, Crawley, and Watson contains the best pictures of ticks that we have seen. The tick that has been biting us lately in Shelby County is the lone star tick. You are likely to be surprised when you learn where their eyes are located.

(04/25/23) The Land Report and F&W Forestry Report bring you news about landowners and for landowners, respectively. Both are always interesting.

(04/24/23) The National Deer Association is offering Deer Steward 1: Habitat Management. "Learn all about food plots, how to manage the woods and open fields, herbicide applications and using prescribed fire by completing NDA’s Habitat Management online module." Instructors are Dr. Craig Harper, Professor of Wildlife Management and the Extension Wildlife Specialist at the University of Tennessee, and Dr. Marcus Lashley, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida.

(04/21/23) "Every Day is Earth Day for Private Forest Landowners. Private forests provide clean air, clean water and essential wildlife habitat." "Fifty-six percent of forestland in the United States is privately owned and sustainably managed by families and private companies. That’s 445 million acres." Source: Forest Landowners Association, 4/20/23.

(04/20/23) Forest Inventory Basics For Family Forest Landowners by Barlow, Maggard, and Kush is an interesting new handbook published by Alabama Extension System which includes well-done narratives as well as video tutorials. "This handbook provides the basics of forest measurements and inventories, how and why they are taken, and how to interpret the results of those measurements. Applying the information will help landowners (1) understand the need for a forest inventory, (2) set goals and communicate more easily with natural resource professionals who assist them, and (3) understand the importance of a quality forest inventory conducted by a professional."

(04/19/23) Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes: Ecology & Conservation with Jayme L. Waldron is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 1 hour and 26 minutes. See below: Help Us Keep Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes Off The List.

(04/18/23) Seize property to build wind and solar farms, says JP Morgan chief, reported yahoo!finance on April 4, 2023. Everyone doesn't agree, as you might imagine. "In Iowa, state legislators on Monday passed a bill that aims to protect private property owners from eminent domain use by carbon pipeline companies."

(04/17/23) Participate in the 2022 Costs and Trends of Southern Forestry Practices Survey. Dr. Adam Maggard, Auburn University, is again looking for information on the cost of managing forestland. If you paid someone to plant trees, conduct a prescribed burn, mark boundary lines, or several other management activities, Adam wants to know what you had to pay to get the job done. Adam will share the information with us later. See below, 11/16/22 and 10/27/21.

(04/12/23) Two Tax Topics that we saw in DeLoach, Barber & Caspers, P.C. April Newsletter that might be of interest:

(04/11/23) Repeal the Death Tax, urge 40+ U.S. Senators, including Senator Britt and Senator Tuberville. AFOA recognizes that this bill will not pass both houses, and even if it did, would never gain the President's signature, but we are glad that both of our Senators are on the right side of the issue.

(04/10/23) Casualty Loss and the Forest Landowner is the topic of the latest Episode (#07) of Timber University, a podcast series sponsored by Mississippi State University Extension and Arkansas Center for Forest Business. Podcast: about 26 minutes. AFOA hasn't listened to past episodes, so if you listen to one or more and think we should feature it here, let us know: send recommendation to RLL@AFOA.ORG.

(04/07/23) PRT Growing Services Ltd. Acquires International Forest Company reports the headline of an April 5, 2023 PRT Press Release. PRT will now have the capacity to produce 630 million seedlings each year. Both companies have been advertisers in AFOA's monthly newsletter, Capital Ideas (see PRT ad on page 3 and IFCO ad on page 8). Some may remember our visit to PRT's nursery in Atmore during our 2019 Annual Meeting.

(04/06/23) To Sweden's lumber producers, "what really stands out is the U.S. market. Imports from Europe and Sweden have strengthened dramatically and in 2022 the U.S. has been established as Sweden's most important lumber product market after the UK." One wonders why more sawmill investments haven't come to the U.S. South, where we are covered up with standing trees ready to be harvested.

(04/05/23) Citizen Ownership of Gold Outlawed by President on April 5: Executive Order 6102. How fragile freedom was in 1933 when Roosevelt signed that order. "After Prohibition was repealed later the same year, the sober man with gold in his pocket was the criminal while the staggering drunk was no more than a nuisance."

(04/04/23) Everything You Need to Know About Property Access -- Part 2 by Felicia Cristofaro, Compass Land USA. Part 1 was featured here on 2/21/23.

(04/03/23) 3 Promising New Ways to Detect CWD, Dead Deer Not Required by National Deer Association's Lindsay Thomas, Jr., describes how the deadly disease-causing prions can be detected in scrapes, at feeders, and by trained dogs. Learn more about Chronic Wasting Disease when Kevin McKinstry, Chairman of the CWD Coalition, talks to us on April 15 at Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge.

(03/30/23) Putting the Management Back Into Streamside Management Zones with Tim Albritton is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 56 minutes.

(03/29/23) JamisonMoneyFarmer's Timber Tax Talk earlier today featured JMF's CPA Rachel Taylor interviewing JMF's Timber and Natural Resources practice group leader Orman Wilson on most of the basics for owning timber land and how it is taxed. They touch on the most common ways to calculate your tax basis of land and timber, timber farming, a forestry management plan, and estate and inheritance strategies around timber. Video: about 30 minutes.

(03/24/23) Recordkeeping: A How-to-do-it Guide for Small Woodland Owners, by Elwood and Gregory, may be something you can use in the future. "Capturing the facts and figures from your woodland operation and turning the seemingly disjointed and unrelated data into usable information is what recordkeeping is all about. It’s just as important as other management activities done on your property."

(03/23/23) If your progress towards improving your wooded land is not moving as smoothly or as quickly as you'd hoped, perhaps it's time to look back at where you've been. Family business coach Lance Woodbury suggests Moving Forward by Measuring Backward.

(03/22/23) The Southern Group of State Foresters (Alabama Forestry Commission is a member) reminded Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack last month that "Current international market restrictions, and overly restrictive trade measures that are not science-based, are negatively affecting U.S. exporters as well as the sustainability of the private forests that supply the fiber." Read the full letter here.

(03/21/23) Should I Sell My Land? Interesting 5-minute video with Pat Porter, RecLand featured on LandThink.com.

(03/20/23) Banned by the FDA. "People might be surprised that root beer, one of the most iconic of the fizzy drinks, was originally made from actual roots. Even more surprising, the main ingredients of those natural root beers have been banned by the FDA." In The Roots of Root Beer, Northern Woodlands, Winter 2022, Ben Lord describes various forms of root beer and even provides a recipe to cook some up yourself. Question: Have you ever pulled up the roots of a sassafras seedling and taken a sniff? If not, try it.

(03/17/23) Managing Hardwood Forests for Deer and Turkeys with Forest Stand Improvement and Prescribed Fire with Mark A. Turner, University of Tennessee, is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 60 minutes.

(03/16/23) The Top Five Strategies Forest Landowners Use to Save Taxes webinar, presented by Andrew Bosserman, Tax Attorney & CPA, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, and hosted by Clemson Cooperative Extension, includes "qualifying for capital gains taxation on timber sales." About 65 minutes. The final topic is specific to South Carolina. Alabama forest owners can apply for current-use assessment on their forestland and should be able to keep property taxes below $2.50 per acre or so. Watch a video on applying for current-use in Alabama.

(03/15/23) "Governor Kay Ivey has proclaimed March 2023 ‘Prescribed Fire Awareness’ Month in the state of Alabama. A coalition of state, federal, and private organizations under the umbrella of the Alabama Prescribed Fire Council requested the proclamation to raise awareness of the essential role that fire plays in both the stewardship of our natural resources and the protection of lives and property."

(03/13/23) Tax Implications When Employed in the Family Business. When a family member employs someone, the tax implications depend on the relationship and the type of business. Taxpayers and employers need to understand their tax situation. Click here for details. Source: DeLoach, Barber & Caspers, P.C., March 2023 Newsletter.

(03/10/23) Message to Lawmakers: If you want the forests of Alabama to flourish, Encourage Us! Read How to Get the Most Out of Others, Foundation for Economic Education, 3/7/23, for some encouraging advice. Hint. Congratulate the private owners of Alabama’s forests for providing millions of acres of wildlife habitat, clean water, clean air and the raw materials for thousands of jobs. 

(03/09/23) "Biden budget plan calls for raising stock buyback, capital gains, corporate taxes. ... and taxing capital gains at that 39.6% rate for households with more than $1 million in income." Source: Pensions & Investments, 3/9/23. Most pundits predict that none of these increases are likely to be passed by Congress.

(03/08/23) Sawmill Closure and Other Big Changes in Southeast Lumber Market, Forest2Market Blog, 2/17/23, by Trip Jobe, highlights the ripple effect as lumber prices fall.

  • Market prices for lumber decreased as demand softened.
  • Low lumber demand and higher operating costs contributed to the closure of West Fraser’s sawmill in Perry, FL.
  • Within weeks of this announcement, the reduced supply has allowed other sawmills to improve their yield.
  • Better yields in the sawmills mean fewer byproducts and other waste used by pulpmills and chipmills.
  • Pulpmills and chipmills will have to buy pulpwood and chips directly at higher costs than sawmill byproducts.
  • This will continue to play a role in where and how additional product prices will respond.
  • In areas where sawmills increase minimum specifications--and if these changes hold long-term--timberland owners may reassess current thinning regimes and/or silviculture treatments.
  • This will reduce the financial impacts of product specification changes on future harvest plans and potentially identify other opportunities for improvement.

(03/07/23) Forest Taxation: Just The Basics features U.S. Forest Service Research Forester Gregory Frey, one of the authors of Tax Tips (see below, 1/9/23), which was published in AFOA's January issue of Capital Ideas. This webinar was produced by Forest Landowners Association on February 15, 2023. About 56 minutes.

(03/06/23) Carbon credits: a contested tool to fight deforestation. "Planting trees or safeguarding tropical rainforests have become popular tools for companies seeking to offset their carbon emissions and proclaim their commitment to the environment. However, recent scandals have cast a shadow over the carbon credit industry, revealing a landscape rife with opportunities for greenwashing." Source: Radio France Internationale, 2/27/23. Plan now to attend AFOA's 42nd Annual Meeting and learn more about the controversies swirling around various carbon credit schemes.

(03/03/23) The Forestry Project is the child of Auburn University graduate research assistant Jace McCauley (see below, 1/12/23). Let us know if you see something on the Project that we should pass along to other forest owners. The Project's YouTube Channel has several videos available.

(03/02/23) Creating Open Woodlands to Promote Regeneration & Development of White Oak with Dr. Wayne Clatterbuck, Professor of Silviculture & Forest Management at the University of Tennessee, was produced by Southern Regional Extension Forestry. "Oaks grow slowly and can be outcompeted by faster growing species, but a few management practices can make a difference. This is the first of three webinars in the Woodland Stewards 2023 webinar series titled: Exploring Practices to Create and Maintain Woodlands in Open Forest Environments."

(03/01/23) Vernal Pools hold water only a few months of the year; they're not connected to any other body of water, and they can be critical habitat for a number of species, like the wood frog. "Learn more about the importance of vernal pools and the cool critters that use them from Virginia Master Naturalist Judy McCord in this Fifteen Minutes in the Forest video." Source: Forest Update, March 2023.

(02/28/23) Master Tree Farmer Course: "Clemson Cooperative Extension has recently opened registration for The Master Tree Farmer course. The goal of this course is to build on basic forestry knowledge to enhance timber and ecological resource management." Source: SREF News Digest, 2/27/23. One of the four registration options is "Online Classroom Only."

(02/27/23) Managing Forests for Wildlife and Forest Health is a 45 minute webinar featuring Dr. Mark McConnell, Mississippi State University. McConnell discusses "management strategies to achieve a multi-use forest in the southeastern U.S. by covering topics including preferred tree species for wildlife and different management approaches for various wildlife species, all while maintaining a productive and healthy forest ecosystem."

(02/24/23) Winners of the 2023 Outdoor Alabama Photo Contest Announced. Enjoy.

(02/22/23) Another company that didn't get the memo about carbon credits? "Three months ago, it was announced that a consortium led by T. Rowe Price Group subsidiary Oak Hill Advisors paid $1.8 billion to acquire 1.7 million acres of timberland in 17 states from The Forestland Group. This standout transaction was even more noteworthy because the ultimate goal of the purchase was not to maximize timber production. Instead, carbon storage was the highest priority." Source: The Land Report, 2/23. See "memo" comments below. Plan now to learn more from Trip Jobe, Forest2Market, when he speaks to us about "Why We Should Ditch Forest Carbon Credits" at our Annual Meeting on April 15.

(02/21/23) Everything You Need to Know About Property Access -- Part 1 by Felicia Cristofaro, Compass Land USA, will give you some ideas about questions frequently forgotten when buying forestland. If I sell timber, does the logger have a right to cross my new neighbors to get to the county road? If I build a cabin on the property, will I always be able to cross my neighbors' land to get to it, even if my neighbors sell their land? If I lease my land to a hunting club, will they have the right to enter the property by crossing my neighbor's land?

(02/16/23) Forest Landowner Academy, an online course offered by University of Florida Extension, is now open for enrollment. Seven modules include:

  • Understanding your forest resources
  • Developing your management plan
  • Timber management
  • Marketing forest products
  • Other forest enterprises such as pine straw and hunting leases
  • Wildlife management
  • Planning for the future

(02/15/23) "Financial aid available to help Alabama landowners fight cogongrass spread." Source: AL.com, 2/14/23. "Potential applicants are directed to the Cogongrass Mitigation Program web page of the AFC website. Landowners may also email cogongrass@forestry.alabama.gov."

(02/14/23) "Overcoming the Timber Harvest Blues" and "Top Quality Hardwood Veneer" are the latest issues of Back Porch Forestry produced by Dr. David Mercker, Extension Forester at the University of Tennessee.

(02/13/23) Tuscaloosa County Farmers Federation Weighs In on Tomorrow's Property Tax Increase Referendum. See also 2/1/23, below. (02/15/23) The property tax increases were defeated by about a 4 to 1 margin. About 13,000 people voted. Source: Tuscaloosa Thread.

(02/10/23) "JP Morgan just bought a massive forest..." to be "...managed for both carbon capture and timber production." Source: yahoo!finance, 2/1/23. AFOA wonders if JP Morgan read the "memo," below.

(02/07/23) Why We Should Ditch Forest Carbon Credits in 2023 by Harvey Greer on Forest2Market Blog will surely worry the folks who have built an industry around carbon credits. Greer quotes Pete Stewart (see below) in his concern for greenwashing, "Carbon credits -- of any type -- only provide justification to pollute more."

(02/06/23) Pete Stewart, CEO of Forest2Market, is at it again. This year he shares 6 Predictions for 2023 Global Forest Industry. Last year he made 8 predictions. The surprise this year is number 6: The death of forest carbon credits is coming.

(02/03/23) Contrasting Headlines: Pellets Up; Lumber Down.

(02/02/23) "Have you ever wondered what type of deed you ought to get when you're buying land, or what the difference is between different types of deeds that you've heard about or read about or seen on the internet?" RecLand Realty Broker Pat Porter describes a few in a short video. About 11 minutes.

(02/01/23) Property Tax Increase on Ballot February 14 for Tuscaloosa County Voters. The proposed 8-mill increase would, we think, be an 80 percent increase for school taxes in the county. "Northport Mayor Bobby Herndon took to social media on Sunday to oppose a proposed property tax increase..." The vote will take place on Valentine's Day, so plan your schedule accordingly. Please send more information if you have any to RLL@AFOA.ORG. Thanks.

(01/31/23) Running on Empty: The BC (British Columbia, Canada) Forestry Crash by Ben Parfitt discusses the wood shortage predicament Canadian sawmills find themselves in (40,000 direct jobs lost in past 20 years). If you are ever presented with the opportunity, we hope you will make sawmill investors from Canada welcome in Alabama.

(01/30/23) "The Nebraska Department of Revenue found that conservation easements, such as those issued by the Natural Resource Conservation Service, devalue the land by 40 percent. This directly decreases tax revenue to the local government reducing their ability to provide necessary services but also causes the tax bill of other landowners to increase." Armed with this information, "Oklahoma State Senator Casey Murdock (R) has filed Senate Bill 980 that gives local governing authorities the ability to approve or deny a conservation easement placed on private land within their jurisdiction."

(01/27/23) Publicly Available Mapping Tools with John Gilbert is the latest issue of Alabama Extension's 2023 Natural Resources Webinar Series. About 56 minutes. Editor's Note: If you have any interest in mapping your property, this video is a must watch. Packed with great information! It was originally presented to the members of the Alabama Prescribed Fire Council, which explains why John included the smoke management tools in the presentation. John will talk to us about maps at our Annual Meeting at Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge on April 15.

(01/26/23) 84% Hasn't Got Anything to Do with Farms or Forests. Have you ever wondered why the giant welfare programs related to food (some may remember food stamps) and the giant welfare programs related to farm and forest land are all clumped together in The Farm Bill? Did you know that the nutrition programs (food stamps) make up most of the spending (76% of the current Farm Bill and 84% of the likely 2023 bill)? Since the farm and forest welfare programs are largely supported by rural interests and the nutrition programs are largely supported by urban interests, would it make sense to separate these two programs if one were trying to pare them down a bit? Asking for a friend.

(01/25/23) Land Market Update with Ryan Folk, co-founder of LandFlip.com and the University of Montevallo's President's Outdoor Scholars Program with William Crawford were both featured on Episode 377 of The Land Show. The two interviews are numbers 1 and 2 of the program. See also: Outdoor Scholars Video.

(01/24/23) Don't Eat!   PFAS Pollution Causes Venison Consumption Advisories in Four States. Not an announced problem in Alabama, but may be soon. PFAS stands for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which contain a strong carbon-fluorine bond that allows them to accumulate over time in the environment and in the bodies of animals and people, posing health risks." See also 2-minute video: What Are PFAS?

(01/23/23) Foreign Ownership of Ag Land: Federal & State Legislative Update was presented last week by Micah Brown, Staff Attorney at the National Agricultural Law Center. One segment of the webinar reviewed Alabama Senate Bill 14 which was proposed in last year's legislative session. SB 14 stated "...a nonresident alien, foreign business, or foreign government, ...may not purchase or otherwise acquire agricultural land in this state." Forestland was included in the definition of agricultural land. The Bill failed to pass. See also, Foreign Investments in Agricultural Land: FAQs & Resource Library.

(01/19/23) Map of Storm Paths -- January 12, 2023. "On January 12, 2023 the State of Alabama suffered damages throughout several counties as a result of severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes. There was approximately a 218-mile stretch of storms that produced several tornadoes across Alabama and Georgia. An EF-2 with winds of 130 MPH impacted Selma, Alabama, and an EF-3 tornado with winds of 150 mph ran 76.7 miles leaving a path of destruction across several counties. The Alabama Forestry Commission is encouraging landowners affected to reach out to their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices to request the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP). Landowners will need to put in a request for EFRP in order to have an Environmental Assessment done in regards to their storm related damages. Once landowners have reached out to the FSA, the FSA office will request EFRP implementation." Click here to find the contact information for your local FSA office. Source: Draft News Release, Alabama Forestry Commission, 1/19/23.

(01/18/23) 10 Things Landowners Should Do Before They Sell Their Timber by Billy Rye was published in Cooperative Farming News, June/July 2022. First on the list is "Understand the Timber Sale Process," followed by "Understand the Tax Implications of a Sale."

(01/17/23) Great Video Series on Pond Management, Stocking, etc. reports Alabama Fish & Pond. Topics include Principles of Pond Management, Construction of a New Pond, Management Practices Prior to Stocking, Stocking and Management of New Ponds, Management Maintenance of Established Ponds, Pond Problems, Reworking an Old Pond, and Other Pond Options.

(01/16/23) "Create and Share Interactive Maps," says MapRight's website. AFOA has talked with the folks at LandGlide, onX, and HuntStand and found them all to be useful additions to our landowners toolbox. If you have used MapRight, send a note to RLL@AFOA.ORG and tell us about your experience. Thanks.

(01/13/23) A Guide to Owning Forestland, Part One and Part Two were written by consulting forester Billy Rye and published in Cooperative Farming News, February/March 2022 and April/May 2022. Topics covered in the articles are:

  • Know What You Have
  • Know What You Want
  • Know How to Get There
  • Know Whom to Call

(01/12/23) When you and your consulting forester talk, do you think you're being heard? Communication between landowners and consulting foresters is important, so Auburn University forestry graduate research assistant Jace McCauley is doing research that might be useful to us. Jace would like to hear what you have to say about communications with consulting foresters and has developed a survey to help him understand the issues. If you are a landowner and wish to participate, click here. Please note, the survey will close on February 28th, 2023.

(01/11/23) "Land Market Predicted to Falter Within the Year in Wake of Slowing Home Sales," predict respondents to LandThink Pulse survey conducted in November. "For land owners, the return on investment of owning land with merchantable saw timber is reduced when the housing market is in a slump, making timberland a less desirable investment."

(01/10/23) "Many Android phones to get satellite connectivity," reported BBC News on 1/6/23. "A new partnership between the satellite phone firm Iridium and chip giant Qualcomm will bring satellite connectivity to premium Android smartphones later in the year. It means that in places where there is no mobile coverage, handsets can connect with passing satellites to send and receive messages." See also 8/31/22.

(01/09/23) Tax Tips for Forest Landowners: 2022 Tax Year is now available online and also in the January issue of Capital Ideas, pages 3 through 6. Headlines include:

  • Understand Timber Sale Income and Recovery of Timber Basis
  • Consider the Reforestation Tax Incentives
  • Deduct Operating Expenses and Carrying Charges
  • Recover Other Major Capital Costs
  • Claim Casualty Loss Deduction When Natural Disaster Hits

(01/06/23) In case you've been worried about the threats of rising temperatures and extreme weather events, Dr. David South, retired Auburn University forestry professor recently sent us some graphs of 100+ years of Alabama summer temperatures (Source: A Practical Guide to Climate Change in Alabama by John Christy). Also, yesterday, PowerLine Blog posted a story, Extreme Weather Events Declining, that may reduce your fears that hurricanes or tornadoes will blow away all your trees (they might, but that would not be abnormal).

(01/05/23) Each year at about this time, a few forest owners decide to go into the Christmas tree business. If you are one of them, click here to read the latest newsletter of The Southern Christmas Tree Association. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for a little encouragement. Ha Ha

(01/04/23) The Land Report 100 features short stories about the largest landowners in the U.S. and includes quite a few forest owners including several in Alabama. The article in the Winter 2022 issue of The Land Report begins on page 114.

(01/03/23) Bonus Depreciation Will Be Phased Out. Forest owners have used the Bonus Depreciation when buying computers, vehicles, off-the-shelf software, machinery and equipment and more. A short paper, Big Tax Payoff for Bonus Depreciation, by JamisonMoneyFarmer's Bobby Bragg provides more information.