Fall 2002 - Volume 11, Number 3
Top Ten Private Forestry Issues 2002-2003
National Woodland Owners Association (NWOA)
HOW TO READ THESE RANKINGS:
This is the 18th year NWOA has identified the Top Ten Private Forestry Issues and presented our positions on each. The order of ranking is selected by vote of members of the Executive Committee and the leadership of each of our affiliated state landowner associations (known as the Alliance of Forest & Woodland Owner Associations).
Following each issue headline is a rating range of the votes (on a scale of I to 10). This is a measure of diversity among the 32 affiliated state groups on the some issue. Next is the rank of each position lost year, with the past rating range.
The top three issues remain Taxes, Property Rights, and the Right-to-Practice Forestry. Although timber taxes - federal, state and local - remain the number one issue, private property rights are a close second and were first last year. Along with Right-to-Practice Forestry (a state and local issue), these three have consistently been the top vote getters.
Landowner Liability moves up to fourth place, a signal of increasing concern over personal liability and escalation in insurance rates coupled with reduced coverage. Cost Sharing moves down to fifth place in spite of the additions in the 2002 Farm Bill. Responses were at the maximum range: I-10.
Forestry Extension Education, long a NWOA priority issue, moves up to sixth place from seventh place, trading places with Professional Forestry/Logging and BMPS. Continuing education of landowners reduces the need for low enforcement, which is often more expensive. Voluntary BMPs are working nationwide, especially when coupled with a 'bad actor' law.
Log Exports, Free Trade, and Certified Forest Practices continue to move up, this year to eighth place. The Canadian softwood lumber dispute focused attention to the issue, which traded places with Forestry on Wetlands - Soil Conservation.
A surprise in this year of catastrophic forest fires is the lost place ranking of the issue. However, interest is rising in the use of expensive air tankers for structure protection while letting woodlands 'burn out'. Woodland taxes pay the lion's share of fire control costs, not the expensive homes which are getting priority. If homeowners want availability of air tankers, which we believe they do, they should be assessed their fair share of the cost.
1. FAIR INCOME, INHERITANCE & PROPERTY TAXES
(Rating Range: 1-4 - last year's rank: #2, range 1-8)
This year taxes again moves to the Number I issue where it has been15 of the past 17 years. The renewed priority is associated with progress gained last year with the approval phase down of estate (death) taxes and the near miss lost month of having the federal death tax repealed entirely. Also, capital gains treatment for lump sum timbers sales (rule 631 b, for many NIPF a preferred method) has been attached to two bills now moving in Congress. NWOA has partnered with the Forest Landowners Tax Council in support of both objectives. Other goals include simplification of allowable deductions for forest expenses and efforts at the state level to rollback property taxes to equitable levels (usually no more than the cost of public services rendered - about $3/acre/year). NWOA SUPPORTS FEDERAL AND STATE CAPITAL GAINS TREATMENT FOR TIMBER WITH AN INFLATION ADJUSTMENT. WE URGE RESTORATION OF THE FORESTRY EXPENSE DEDUCTION, THE REPEAL OF ESTATE AND INHERITANCE TAXES, AND THE ADOPTION OF BENEFIT/COST PROPERTY TAX RATES.
2. PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS
(Rating Range: 1-7 - last year's rank: #1, range 1-7)
Perennially a hot topic with private landowners, individual private property rights continue to be modified by societal public interest. NWOA calls attention to the importance of these property rights and the responsibilities they carry. We are the only national landowner organization that has produced c3 Woodland Responsibility Code, and it has been adopted by 26affiliated state landowner associations. Members of Congress and state legislators express sympathy - even while drafting additional restrictive laws at the urging of other constituents who believe they are needed to protect the public good. The property rights movement emphasizes the importance of uniquely American concepts of private property, and still the courts hold that no "takings' occur until landowners lose the rights to most of their land - the level is unspecified, but appears to be about 80%.NWOA SUPPORTS COMPENSATION FOR TAKINGS OF AT LEAST 50%OF FAIR MARKET VALUE AND MORE WHEN JUSTIFIED.
3. RIGHT-TO-PRACTICE FORESTRY
(Rating Range: 2-9 - last year's rank: #3, range 1-7)
The RIGHT-TO-PRACTICE FORESTRY is one of the original issues NWOA recognized when these priorities were first circulated 17 years ago. This is a state, not a federal, issue and there are 50 different responses possible. The stakes are enormous. Most landowners cannot imagine public laws that could be enacted that would severely limit, or even prohibit, their right to harvest forest products on their own tax-paying land, especially if they have invested years growing and nurturing that crop. It can and does happen. Restrictions often begin as local planning or zoning ordinances. Others derive from concern over endangered species. Rarely is any compensation for property losses offered. While NWOA has always recognized the legitimate interest of neighbors, there is also a responsibility to assure property owners the opportunity to benefit from their forestry investments. NWOA ENDORSES THE ENACTMENT OF STATE AND LOCAL LAWS THAT RECOGNIZE THE BENEFITS OF GOOD FOREST PRACTICES AND THE RIGHTS OF LANDOWNERS TO GROW AND HARVEST TREES.
4. LANDOWNER LIABILITY
(Rating Range: 3-9 - last year's rank: #5, range 2-10)
With more people moving into rural areas, landowners are experiencing trespass, dumping and unwanted public use of their property. Moreover, woodland owners may be liable for damages related to both authorized and unauthorized public use of their property. Liability is addressed in state low, not federal. In some states, a homeowners insurance rider provides liability protection. In most states it does not. Hunter liability insurance is available. ALL STATES MUST ENACT EFFECTIVE LANDOWNER LIABILITY STATUTES THAT SHIELD PROPERTY OWNERS FROM UNREASONABLE NUISANCE LAWSUITS. NWOA URGES INSURANCE COMPANIES TO OFFER AFFORDABLE LIABILITY INSURANCE TO FOR-EST AND WOODLAND OWNERS.
5. FOREST STEWARDSHIP AND COST SHARING
(Rating Range: 3-10 - last year's rank: #4, range 3-9)
The 2002 Farm Bill ended both FIP and SIP, placing parts of both in anew Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP). Regulations are being drafted to implement the new program and will be circulated for review and comment in October 2002. Considerable discretion will be given to state Stewardship Coordinating Committees to set priorities for cost share practices in each state. This cost share program is "mandatory funding' - not subject to annual appropriations. Other cost-share programs are available for wildlife and watershed improvements. Several states have initiated forestry cost-share programs. Forest legacy and related conservation easements help keep woodlands in forest land use. NWOA SUPPORTS THE FOREST STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM AND RECOGNIZES THE BENEFITS OF PERMITTING EACH STATE TO DEVELOP PROJECTS ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS. COST-SHARING HAS BEEN AN EFFECTIVE TOOL BY HELPING LANDOWNERS FINANCE GOOD FORESTRY PRACTICES.
6. FORESTRY EXTENSION EDUCATION
(Rating Range: 1-9 - last year's rank: #7, range I -10)
Investment in forestry education (e.g., Master Woodland Managers) through the Extension Service and cooperating state and local agencies (who put up $5 for every federal $1) yields a good return through improved forest productivity. Informed, landowners are the best alternative to costly forest regulation. Widely available forestry extension programs help assure sustainable forestry. NWOA SUPPORTS APPROPRIATIONS FOR FORESTRY UNDER THE RENEWABLE RESOURCES EXTENSION ACT (RREA) AND OTHER PROGRAMS.
7. BMPS, PROFESSIONAL FORESTRY& LOGGER CERTIFICATION
(Ratings Range: 2-9 - last year’s rank: #6, range 2-9) Landowners should apply Best Management Practices (BMP’s) on forestry operations. BmPs are usually developed at the state level with landowner and agency participation. Using the services of a professional forester (public, consulting or industrial) to assist in forestry management and applying BMPs has been among the top ten NWOA priorities since1986. Members of NWOA may request an introductory visit from a consulting forester through the NATIONAL FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. Although only 20% of landowners use a professional forester when selling timber, all of them use a logger. Through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), most states have established Logger Training Programs in cooperation with state forestry associations, the Forest Resources Association and the American Loggers Council. NWOA PROMOTES VOLUNTARY ADOPTION OF BMPS, THE AVAILABILITY AND USE OF PROFESSIONAL FORESTRY ADVICE FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES, AND STRONGLY ENCOURAGES THE USE OF CERTIFIED LOGGERS WHEN LANDOWNERS SELL THEIR TIMBER.
8. LOG EXPERTS, FREE TRADE, CERTIFIED FOREST PRACTICES
(Rating Range: 2-10 - last year's rank: #9, range 2-10) NWOA’s long standing position on free trade was tested in 2001-2002 during the debate over subsidized import of softwood lumber from Canada. Import duties have been imposed on most Canadian softwood imports and are now under appeal. The export of logs provides a significant market for private timber, in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. NWOA believes that free markets operate best with minimal government control. In recent years, several forest practice certification programs have been developed (i.e. FSC, SFI, Green Tag) to help assure woodland owners open access to all markets through responsible stewardship. AMERICA HAS A WORLDWIDE ADVANTAGE IN TIMBER GROWING AND IS A PROVEN LEADER BY EXAMPLE OF SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY. NWOA SUPPORTS OPEN ACCESS TO WORLD MARKETS AND A FREEDOM OF CHOICE OF FOREST CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS.
9. FORESTRY ON WETLANDS -SOIL CONSERVATION
(Rating Range: 6-10 - last year's rank: #8, range 3-9)
Timber production is a compatible and appropriate use on the majority of privately-owned wetlands. The accepted definition of wetlands should be reasonable and easily understood. Sec. 40,4 of the Clean Water Act recognizes silviculture as an appropriate practice. EPA has tried to remove the forestry exemption through regulation (TMDLs or Total Maximum Daily Loads), but there is little evidence that well managed forests are a water quality problem. FORESTRY IS A COMPATIBLE USE OF WETLANDS. WETLAND DEFINITIONS MUST BE CLEAR, REASONABLE AND NOT RESTRICTIVE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT. NWOA ENDORSES 'IN-HOUSE' FORESTRY EXPERTISE WITHIN THE USDA NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE.
10. WILDFIRE - THE WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE
(Rating Range: 1-10 - last year's rank: #10, range 2-10)-
Small landowners can only afford small fires. Wildfires present the potential of destroying a lifetime investment in one afternoon. NWOA has worked for state and federal funds for wildland fire control and woodland owners pay a fire patrol property tax. However, increasingly fire control efforts - especially on retardant drops - are focused on homes and developments at the expense of wildlands which are paying for this service. Firefighters must have adequate resources, but they should be paid for by the benefiting party. NWOA RECOGNIZES THE DIFFICULT CHOICES FACING FIRE FIGHTERS IN WILDLAND-URBAN SITUATIONS. PROBLEMS CAN BE REDUCED THROUGH FUEL MANAGEMENT, EFFECTIVE ACCESS, EARLY DETECTION AND USE OF FIRE PLANS.