(11/21/12)
Fiscal
Cliff Considerations. Source: Lehmann, Ullman and Barclay LLP
website. Written by Henry Barclay, III, CPA, the Fiscal Cliff article
will be reprinted in AFOA's December 2012 newsletter, Capital Ideas.
(11/12/12)
Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystemsis
available in print or on line. The Guide was featured on page 6 of the
November 2012 AFOA newsletter, Capital Ideas, but, unfortunately,
we typed the publication request phone number wrong. The correct phone
number is (828) 257-4830. You can also request a print copy by email:
pubrequest@fs.fed.us or
download
the 88-page publication here.
(09/21/12)
"Apple Makes Wrong Turn as Users Blast Map Switch." If you use
the Maps App that comes with your iPhone or iPad, you may want to hold
off on updating to IOS 6 or buying an iPhone 5. Source: The Wall
Street Journal, 9/21/12
However, all is not lost! If you've already updated to iOS 6 or
purchased an iPhone 5, you still can use Google Maps via Safari, the web
browser. Google Maps actually has more functionality when used in the
browser. You may want to bookmark the Google Maps page so you can open
it faster.
(09/16/12)
HOMEWORK to prepare for Tuesday, September 18 Referendum.
(08/28/12)
Range-Wide Conservation Strategy for the
Gopher Tortoise. South Alabama forest owners who might have
gopher tortoise habitat on their land will want to tune-in to a U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service webinar on August 29, September 5, or September
6 (times listed are Eastern Time). Developing a strategy to avoid having the tortoise listed as an
endangered or threatened species would be a good one for landowners.
(08/07/12)
Drought Assistance
Available to Forest Owners. "Examples of practices include
re-forestation of longleaf pine stands and prescribed burning for fuel
reduction. Several supporting practices are also allowed and include
practices such as site preparation, fuel breaks, and fire breaks. The
deadline for producers to sign up is August 10, 2012."
(07/08/12)
Only You Can Exploit Forest Fires. Source: Michelle Malkin,
National Review Online, 7/9/12. Taxpayers should ask:Is global warming the cause of the big Western forest fires or could
they be caused by a faulty landownership model? Is government really the
best steward of forestland? of any land? of any property?
(07/03/12)
"One little word can mean so much. In relation to the Clean
Water Act, that word is “navigable,” and the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers are trying to get rid of
it. ... As part of Farm Bureau’s 'Stop the Flood of Regulation'
campaign, farmers and ranchers are urging their senators and
representatives to pass the Preserve the Waters of the U.S. Act (S. 2245
and H.R. 4965), which would prevent EPA from using the guidance
document." Source: American Farm Bureau Federation as quoted on AgProfessional.com, 7/3/12
(06/06/12)
"Raising taxes is really not something that I intend to do. If this
thing fails, I'm still not going to do it," said Governor Bentley as
reported in The Birmingham News and
www.al.com, 6/6/12 and 6/5/12, resp. "This Thing" that the
governor is speaking about is a new raid on the
Alabama Trust Fund imposed by the state legislature last month. The
Republican controlled state legislature could not produce a balanced
budget for the fiscal year beginning in October, so they passed
legislation requiring voters statewide to vote yea or nea to a September
18, 2012, constitutional amendment that, if passed, will suck a half
billion dollars out of the Alabama Trust Fund to pay the state's current
operating expenses. Forest owners know that threats of new taxes usually
include threats of
property tax increases (scroll down to Amendment One). Stay alert.
(05/04/12)
Based on the theory that any publicity is good publicity, we suppose you
will like several articles that hit the news in the past two months.
They are,
Staving off an Alabama forestland crisis, The Birmingham News,
4/29/12,
Alabama timber industry facing tough times, Southeast Farm
Press, 3/8/12, and
Alabama's timber industry at risk, Birmingham Business
Journal, 5/4/12. A common thread in the articles seems to be that
forest landowners have gray hair (when was that not true?), and,
if timber prices stay low, forest landowners might sell their land to a
developer and reap huge profits (the only business worse off than the
timber business right now is the housing development business). Give
me a break.
(03/08/12)
Forest Landowners Association
Call to Action: Contact your Representatives in the U.S.
Congress and urge their support of H.R. 1259, the Death Tax Repeal
Permanency Act.
(03/05/12)
Fear of global warming/climate change are behind most forest
certification schemes, ethanol subsidies, cellulosic ethanol mandates
and many other actions that affect national and international forest
policy. We thought you might enjoy the conversation in this video.
