Archived 2000 News, Issues & Information

(12/23/00) Interactive Timberland Investment and Management Tools are available from Texas Forest Service.

(12/23/00) Hardwood Manufacturers Association web site includes a guide to 21 North American hardwood species.

(12/20/00) Mississippi Timber Price Report and Related Information.

(12/19/00) Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2000 Tax Year. Once you are at the Tax Tips web page click on 2000 Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for a PDF version of Larry Bishop's current Tax Tips.

(12/19/00) Alabama Christmas Tree Association

(12/19/00) Dr. Tom Bonnicksen's web page on restoration forestry is up & running. Dr. Bonnicksen was a guest on Capital Ideas - Live!, 10/18/00.

(12/19/00) treekeepers.org comments on Lowe's lumber buying policy.

(12/02/00) "...increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide . . . during the 20th Century have produced no deleterious effects upon global weather, climate, or temperature." A lecture by Dr. Art Robinson, Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.

(11/26/00) Nation's Top Climate & Weather Experts Predict "Normal Winter Weather" for 2000-2001.

(11/26/00) Responses of Wildlife to Clearcutting and Associated Treatments in the Eastern United States

(11/25/00) Bankhead and Talladega National Forests Remain on National Monument Wish List.  If you own land near these forests you should be paying attention to possible changes in your neighborhood.

(1125/00) Planting Morphologically Improved Pine Seedlings to Increase Survival and Growth by Dr. David South (Auburn University). (PDF file)

(11/13/00) Black Bear Hunters Arrested in Southwest Alabama.

(11/09/00) Anti-forestry referendum in Maine defeated.

(11/06/00) Progressive Farmer Discusses Timber Markets with AFOA and Others. Click Here.

(10/29/00) Forest owners in Maine again faced with referendum that would stop productive use of their forestland. Click here to read testimony of Maine State Forester Tom Doak or Click here to read a paper written by Fred Huntress, president of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine.

(10/27/00) There is much discussion on CO₂ and how increasing amounts in the atmosphere might affect world climate. People who fear global warming and who believe forests might soak up CO₂, and thus prevent or slow global warming, might write regulations that dictate how you are allowed to manage your forestland. Click here for a discussion on CO₂ and climate.

(10/21/00) A NASA paper on global warming doesn't relate much to our questions about the value of maintaining tree cover on the earth's land surface, but you may find it interesting. Click Here.

(10/19/00)  Resource Sustainability and Population Growth: a lecture by Auburn Forestry Professor David South.  Click Here.

(10/13/00)  Current-Use Property Assessment Values Will Increase Tax Bills Next Year. The Alabama Department of Revenue has a press release with details at http://www.ador.state.al.us/prdocs/curuse00.pdf. 
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader(TM) to open the press release. Download FREE copy here. 

(10/01/00)  If you want to measure the volume of wood in your trees, check out this web page provided by the Virginia Cooperative Extension. Click here: http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/forestry/420-560/420-560.html. Other related sites include:

• http://www.forestry.uga.edu/efr/olddocs/docs3/html/ifmn.html
• http://www.anu.edu.au/Forestry/mensuration/product.htm
• http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/forestry/g05050.htm
• http://www.aces.edu/department/extcomm/publications/anr/anr-263/anr-263.html
• http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for9/for9.htm
• http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/Extension/pubtxt/Cir662.html
• http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/DD3025.html#toc

(09/26/00)  The Alabama Supreme Court has sent a case back to the appeals court and the final outcome may raise your property taxes. Read the Mobile Register article from 9/23/00. For comments on the Supreme Court candidates, visit Capital Ideas - Live! 9/20/00.

(09/25/00) The future has arrived for some Georgia pulpwood producers.

(09/23/00) For details on government tree planting assistance programs, click here.

(09/23/00) Another Politically Correct Lumber Buyer: Andersen Corporation, maker of Andersen® windows and patio doors, announced [9/14/00] that it will not source wood from endangered forests and it will give preference to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or equivalent certified wood supplies in the manufacture of its products. Read the press release at http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000914/mn_anderse.html.

(08/28/00) You may appreciate this essay on supply and demand by Doug MacCleery: http://www.fs.fed.us/eco/eco-watch/consumption_ethic2.html. MacCleery was a speaker at an AFOA annual meeting several years ago.

(08/27/00) Deer Cam is an infrared-triggered surveillance camera. You can capture pictures of the deer and turkeys on your forestland or maybe catch the trespasser who has been "borrowing" firewood when you're not around. Priced at under $300, the camera is available from Non Typical, Inc. at www.nontypicalinc.com or by calling Quality Deer Management Association at 1-800-209-DEER.

(08/25/00) 84 Lumber wants your wood ONLY IF you and your forestland are politically correct.  Home Depot made a similar decision about a year ago and Lowe's announced their decision on August 8, 2000. Click on the company names for more details.

(08/17/00) Wanted to Lease or Buy: 500 acres within 2 hours of Atlanta for use by off-road motorcyclist group. Call Len Nelson at (404) 873-1479.

(08/10/00) If you like to keep up with national forestry news, visit: http://www.advancedforestry.com/. Click on the Forestry News button on the left side of your screen.

(07/26/00) $200,000 disaster money available in Alabama for replanting drought-killed seedlings. Money can be used to replant seedlings except those planted under CRP cost-share program. Contact local Natural Resources Conservation Service or NRCS State Forester Jerry Johnson at 1-800-342-9893 or  jerry.johnson@al.usda.gov.

(07/26/00) Three year old golf course wants 41 year old pig farm to shut down. Sometimes new home owners in forested areas believe they have the right to stop forest owners from harvesting their timber. Check out http://www.pigfarmer.com/. This could happen to you.

(07/18/00) Southern Pine Beetles have reached epidemic status in 51 counties. Read the Alabama Forestry Commission report at http://www.forestry.state.al.us/southern_pine_beetle_alert.htm. Although the beetles are pretty bad, a poorly executed timbersale can be worse. Be sure to get the help of a consulting forester before selling your timber. AFOA has a list of consultants who are NOT timber buyers. Call AFOA at (205) 987-8811.

(06/25/00) Free USGS Topographic Maps at http://www.topozone.com.

(06/25/00) 1998 Tree Planting Report is available online. Take the time to read it; it will make you proud of the private initiative displayed in Alabama and the other 12 Southern States. http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/kns/pubs_be/viewpub.jsp?index=5320

(06/15/00) Want to call your Congressman? Dave Russell on the Alliance for America listserv tells us that you can reach the Capitol Switchboard and be connected to your Senators or US House member -- all toll-free. Let us know if the numbers work (or don't work) for you. Thanks.

• 1-888-449-3511
• 1-800-241-7109
• 1-877-778-9001
• 1-800-648-3516

(06/15/00) The US House recently voted to repeal the Estate Tax, but... among other things, President Clinton will probably veto the bill if it passes the Senate. We read an interesting policy statement of the National Association of State Foresters entitled Taxation and Forest Sustainability. The conclusion paragraph of the statement follows (keep in mind, the policy statement was written for state agencies who seek federal funds, not private forest owners):

The Federal tax code greatly affects land management, and this impact is frequently negative. The issue is not simply whether forestland owners are often forced to pay more taxes than they should, or that the tax rules for forestry are extraordinarily complicated. The issue is forest sustainability and whether tax policies that move us away from that goal should be left in place. We do not believe they should be. Relatively simple changes to the tax code, such as those outlined here, can provide positive incentives to long-term forest management, stewardship, reforestation, and the establishment of new forests. At the very least, current disincentives should be removed, such as those that force landowners to carry their management expenses over longer terms than necessary. (the complete statement is at: http://www.stateforesters.org/positions/forestland_taxation.html)

(06/12/00) EPA is backing off from its NPDES permit requirements for silviculture as proposed in the 8/23/99 Congressional Record.  According to a Washington, DC source, EPA's Charles Fox met last week with the Senate Environment & Public Works committee staff and told them that EPA is "dropping the entire NPDES silvicultural piece of the TMDL rules." Mr. Fox further stated that EPA may re-propose the silvicultural language, but not in this Administration.

(05/16/00) Cost-share money for wildlife is available. Alabama Power Company has contributed a small amount of money ($20,000) to encourage plantings that attract, shelter and / or feed wildlife along transmission lines in 6 Alabama Counties. APCo will cost-share about $50 per acre in Barbour, Chambers, Dale, Elmore, Houston, and Lee counties. Landowners or leaseholders may sign up between May 1 and May 19.
David Barrow is program leader for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) which will administer the program for the power company. He can be reached at david.barrow@al.usda.gov  or (334)223-7257.

(05/10/00) Tax Information Waiting for Your Visit:

• http://www.fnr.purdue.edu/ttax
• http://ohioline.ag.ohio-state.edu/for-fact/index.html
• http://www.uga.edu/~soforext/forestmgmt/aghandbook.html

(04/22/00) Earth Day as Viewed by a Free Market Organization: http://www.mises.org/earthday.asp.

(04/08/00) Pine Straw Buyers for Georgia are listed at http://www.gfc.state.ga.us/Management/PineStraw/View.cfm. The list can be sorted by phone number or city to make it easier to find one that is close by. If you don't know much about the pine straw business, we recommend that you seek expert help, especially with the sale contract. Also, be sure to check references!

(04/08/00) R. Keith O'Neal wants to lease for hunting 300 +/- acres in Central Alabama anywhere from Mississippi to Georgia. Contact Keith at (256) 237-2322 days, (256) 831-4424 nights, (256) 237-4407 fax or email Bigamhuntr@aol.com.

(03/27/00) Two Hunters Want to Lease Up To 700 Acres in Southeast Alabama. Call Daniel Blackford at (863) 534-1651.

(03/21/00) Our Search For Alabama Pinestraw Buyers has not found any current buyers, though we understand Dr. Mark Dubois may present some new information during his speech on pinestraw at our Annual Meeting on April 1. You may find a potential buyer by calling members of the North Carolina Pine Needle Producers Association. Their web page list is located at: http://www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/assoc/pineneedle/members.htm.

(03/17/00) How will you vote on Tuesday, March 21? For background information and a lively discussion on the tax increase referendum to be decided on March 21 by voters across Alabama, visit the TV show For The Record. When you get there, click on Real Video and then select the March 16 program entitled Franchise Tax. To begin, click here:  http://www.aptv.org/ForTheRecord/

(03/15/00) For more information than you want to know about growing valuable black walnut trees, visit: American Forestry Technology in West Lafayette, Indiana -- http://www.nlci.com/aft/.

(02/25/00) Information You Can Use from Extension Update South, written by Southern Regional Extension Forester, Bill Hubbard.

• New computer software developed at Mississippi State University might help you estimate timber and timberland investment values. FORVAL for Windows, a free computer program, recently was made available by the university's Forest and Wildlife Research Center. It can be downloaded from the Internet at http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/products/software/forval.html.

• Benefits of Prescribed Burning by Dr. Alan J. Long, Publication FOR70, is a fire management publication available from the Florida Cooperative Extension Service.  Contact Dr. Martha Monroe at (352) 846-0878 or mcmo@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu.

• A handy visual step-by-step guide to Shiitake Production on Logs has been developed by Dr. Deborah Hill, Extension Forestry Specialist at the University of Kentucky. The guide, 12 pictures in all, walks the user through choosing the right trees, cutting the logs, finding the mushroom spawn, hole drilling and spacing, filling and sealing holes, stacking and shading the logs, watering, harvesting and storing, and marketing. Contact Dr. Hill at (606) 257-7610 or dhill@ca.uky.edu.

• A new forest insect and disease CD is available from the University of Georgia. It expands and compliments the scope of images delivered in digital format that are contained in the 1995 Forest Insects and Their Damage: Photo CD Vols. I and II, (Southern Cooperative Series Bulletin 383, by G. K. Douce, B. T. Watson, D. J. Moorhead and G. J. Lenhard). See: http://www.bugwood.caes.uga.edu/forestcd/. The new CDs, Forest Pests of North America Integrated Pest Management Photo CD Series, contain 300 images in Kodak Digital Sciences Photo CD Image Pac format (PCD). Photo CD Image Pac format captures all of the image data contained on 35mm film. For more information or to order a CD, contact Dr. G. K. Douce at (912) 386-3424 or kdouce@uga.edu, or contact Dr. D. J. Moorhead at (912) 386-3418 or moorhead@uga.edu.

(02/22/00) Champion International Corp. Will Merge with Helsinki-based UPM-Kymmene,   Europe's largest forest products company. Champion is a major stumpage buyer in North Alabama. For more details, visit http://biz.yahoo.com/apf/000217/paper_merg_3.html. While on the subject of large landowner transactions, check out the details of the disposition and management of Alliance Forest Products' land sale to HTRG, a wholly owned subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000211/ma_hancock_1.html. The subject land is that formally owned by Kimberly-Clark in east Alabama. A PDF map of the land is located at: http://www.htrg.com/files/cahaba.pdf.

(02/15/00) America's Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery is a book authored by Thomas M. Bonnicksen that may hold some interest for you. Review it at Amazon.com. Hardcover - 304 pages (June 1999) John Wiley & Sons.

(02/11/00) Congressional Hearings on EPA's August 23, 1999 Proposed Increases in Regulations on Forest Management Activities. The following is taken from the Society of American Foresters (SAF) DC Forest Policy Update for the Week of February 6, 2000.  "TMDL -- The House Transportation subcommittee on water resources and environment will hold a hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposal to strengthen its water quality program through improvements to the total maximum daily load program (TMDL). [second hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. on 2/15/00 in room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building]  The hearing is expected to showcase a report from the General Accounting Office on the data supporting the TMDL process. The Senate Agriculture Committee plans a hearing on the subject for February 23. SAF has a position on this issue which you can read on-line at  http://www.safnet.org/policy/psst/tmdlpos.htm,   the SAF website [ http://www.safnet.org ] also has additional background on EPA's proposal."  From a separate SAF email update we've learned that EPA's 2001 budget request includes an increase of $45 million to carry out "the total maximum daily load clean water program." EPA has received about 30,000 cards and letters with comments on their August 23 proposals.

(02/10/00) If You've Missed The First Two MTF2000 Programs, Don't Miss The Rest. The Master Tree Farmer 2000 video conference series has five more programs to go, and if they are anything like the first two, they will be well organized and full of practical information.   There are eleven locations hosting the programs in Alabama and many others in ten other southern states. Visit AFOA's Calendar of Events for host locations and related links. The remaining dates are February 15, 22, 29, March 7 & 14. If you are interested in estate planning to avoid taxes, try to review a copy of the last 30 minutes of the February 8 session. Albert Todd's presentation was excellent!

(02/03/00) A Store That May Be of Interest To Forest Owners is located in Pelham, Alabama. It is called Woodcraft, and it specializes in all things of interest to wood workers -- saws, routers, carving tools, and wood -- all kinds of wood. The company may be interested in buying certain uncommon wood from you if you have a way of turning your trees into dry boards. Visit their web site at http://www.woodcraft.com.

(02/03/00) Letter to the Editor:
Dear AFOA,
Have you seen this site? ( http://www.e-thepeople.com/ ) It is designed for folks who want to develop a petition and seems interesting. When I last stopped by, there were a couple of [petitions] that I agreed with and [it] was easy to add my name to the list. Perhaps this is a site worthy of AFOA's interest. Let me know what you think.
Brian Bradley.

(02/03/00) For a wealth of information about forestry, check out http://forestry.about.com/. Alabama "forester Steve Nix, has meticulously sifted through the Web to bring you only the best online forestry  resources. He has also contributed his own expertise and research on the subject." Be sure to read the material on the EPA's proposed restrictions on forest management activities at http://forestry.about.com/education/forestry/library/weekly/aa122699.htm.

(01/28/00) Uncle Sam's Government Printing Office has a web page and you can order the Forest Owners' Guide to the Federal Income Tax on it. Scroll down to the "F" area at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/sale/sb-086.html.   To open the GPO's web page at the beginning, visit http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/.

(01/12/00) On the Reintroduction of Wolves: 
http://www.d.umn.edu/wolf2000/
http://www.paragonpowerhouse.org/wolf.htm

Archived News, Issues & Information from 1999