Latest from the Forest Landowners Association!
Forest Forum on At-Risk Species Listings & How They Impact Forest Management
Please join the Forest Landowners Assocition (FLA) for a Forest Forum, Thursday November 14, 2016, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm at the Solon Dixon Education Center, Andalusia, Alabama to increase dialogue and strengthen relationships between forest landowners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The conversation will focus on at-risk species listings, rulings and the impact on managing your forestland for economic returns, as well as the utilization of cost-share programs.(more)
Forest Landowner Comments on Proposed 2704 Rule Changes
On August 2 the US Department of Treasury proposed changes to the way estates are valued in what is known as section 2704(b). Public comment is being sought through November and a public hearing will take place in December 1 in Washington, DC.
The Forest Landowners Aociation is supporting 2 bills in Congress aimed at stopping the proposed rule changes, working with partner associations and Congress on letters to Treasury highlighting the negative impact of the changes to landowners and will provide direct comments and testimony during the comment period and public hearing.(more)
Petitioning Process for Endangered Species Act to Change
The process by which parties petition for endangered species to be listed, delisted or reclassified under within the Endangered Species Act will change in late October.
Specifically, the changes will require increased engagement with state wildlife agencies while petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries (the Services). Moving forward, petitioners will need to notify the state wildlife agency in which the species the petitioner has identified is found 30 days prior to officially petitioning the Services. According to a release issued by the USFWS, this will allow the states to coordinate with federal agencies and provide them with the pertinent information required by them to make an informed decision.(more)
States Ask Federal Appeals Court to Reconsider Endangered Species Act Ruling
On August 10, 2016 fifteen states including Georiga, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama filed a petition in support of a landowner’s request to have his case heard by the entire 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the case o
f Markle vs. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Louisiana landowner is hoping to keep his 1500 forested acres from being classified as “critical habitat” to the dusky gopher frog, a species classified as endangered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
When land is classified as critical to the survival of an endangered species act, a landowner’s ability to make management decisions for piece of property may be curtailed. At the center of this case is that the land in question, deemed essential by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is in Louisiana where the dusky gopher frog has not been observed since 1967.(more)
Treasury Department Proposes Changes in Family Business Valuation Approach
Earlier this month, the Internal Revenue Service proposed changes to section 2704(b) that would remove what family business advocates consider legitimate valuation discounts for estate, gift and generation skipping taxes. These discounts have been used for nearly twenty years to protect family business from over taxation at the time of a transfer of shares via death or gift.
The Family Business Coalition (FBC) is urging anyone that owns and operates a family-owned business to make themselves familiar with the proposed rule and to submit comments about how the rule will negatively impact their business before the deadline on November 1, 2016. (more)
FLA awarded $100,000 grant for engaging large timberland owners in longleaf restoration and at-risk species conservation
The Forest Landowners Association (FLA) has been awarded a $100,000 grant by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to engage large, private timberland owners in ongoing efforts to increase and improve coordination among federal and state agencies to engage working forests landowners in longleaf restoration and the conservation of at-risk species.
A primary objective of the grant is to ensure at-risk species determinations do not discourage timberland owners from planting longleaf pine stands. Instead, the goal is that through collaboration and better understanding of the management of working forests, a pathway that encourages large timberland owners to plant longleaf pine stands can be developed. This pathway would balance at-risk species regulations, forest management objectives and the economic interests of the private landowner. (more)
