Starting Time: 00:00
Hayes D. Brown, attorney and forest owner, will moderate this news conference. Hayes’ email address is hbrown@hayesbrown.com.
Starting Time: 00:45
Palmer Schoening is President of Schoening Strategies and Chairman of the Family Business Coalition. In these roles, he’s on the frontlines in Washington, D.C., working to advise associations and family businesses on tax policies. He is well versed on a new plan by the Biden administration, American Families Plan, that will actually do much harm to family businesses, including landowners, if passed. Specifically, this plan by the Biden administration aims to repeal stepped-up basis and increase the capital gains tax, both of which will hit family businesses hard. Palmer will share where the conversation around this plan is currently, what it means for landowners if passed, and what landowners can do to push back on these potential tax hikes.
Starting Time: 04:42
Dan Chapell is Coordinator of the Alabama Forestry Commission‘s Forest Inventory and Analysis Program. Alabama was recently enrolled for one year in the Natural Capital Exchange‘s Carbon program. According to Alabama Assistant State Forester Will Brantley as reported in TreeTopics, June 2021, this will provide ‘harvest deferral credit payments’ to landowners in lieu of harvesting timber during that time period. Enrollment in this program is aimed to generate additional revenue for the agency, but it’s also expected to generate revenue for landowners throughout Alabama. For the first marketplace the state participated in, it’s estimated that Alabama has 9,700 eligible acres, and if there is no tree loss, storm damage, or pests, could realize approximately $40,000. That breaks down to $4/acre. Dan will speak to what this program is and what it means for landowners.
Starting Time: 09:13
Dr. Tamara Cushing is an Extension Assistant Professor in Forest Business at the University of Florida and is one of the top forest taxation experts in the United States. With the recent national disasters happening around the country–from the wildfires out West to the Gulf’s experience with Hurricane Ida–it’s important for forest landowners to understand how to handle deducting storm damage losses. Tamara will share what forest landowners should do to prepare for these types of natural disasters, what provisions are available, and how to document a loss.
Ed Wilson is the Vice President of Outdoor Underwriters, Inc., the company which provides AFOA members with hunting lease liability insurance and timberland liability insurance. It’s impossible to overstress the importance of hunting safety, and it’s critical for both landowners and hunters alike to understand the ethics and responsibility required to keep everyone safe. Over the years, safety options have advanced and improved. Ed will speak with us about the latest options hunters and landowners have to track and share locations while in the forest to ensure maximum safety.
