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Betsy Bates

Timber Prices Remain Flat In First Quarter Of 2019

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Timber stumpage (standing tree) prices in the South were flat in the first quarter of the year with the exception of hardwood markets in the Southeastern region, the head of one of the nation’s largest forest management companies reports.

Marshall Thomas, president of F&W Forestry Services, Inc., reports in his firm’s spring newsletter that it appears that 2019 will be an uneventful year for timber markets.

“Across the rest of the South, prices seem to be flat with one exception—Southeastern hardwood pulpwood and sawtimber prices have been edging up for the last three years and continued to move up in the first quarter,” wrote Thomas.

“As mentioned in the last newsletter, it looks like 2019 may be a flat year for us,” Thomas added. “Housing starts went flat (if you are an optimist) or are dropping (if you are a pessimist).  But mortgage rates did drop slightly, which could help start things back up.”

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2019 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

F&W Managers See Rise In Reforestation Activity

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A survey of F&W managers across the Southern Pine Belt finds reforestation activity was on the rise in most regions during the recent 2018-19 planting season and more landowners are using genetically-improved seedlings and planting fewer seedlings per acre.

As timber markets become steadier and slightly stronger, landowners are beginning to sell timber, resulting in more reforestation activity.

“Landowners have become content with the current timber market and they are willing to final harvest stands at current prices,” reports Brent Williamson, manager of the El Dorado, Ark., office.  “There was a time period following the recession when landowners seemed to be in a ‘hold and wait’ pattern; this does not seem to be the case now.”

The trend of increased reforestation activity is in-line with the most recent U.S. Forest Service report on reforestation activity.  Tree Planters’ Notes, which looks at data collected during the 2016-17 planting season, estimates that more than 2.46 million acres of trees were planted, an increase of 2 percent over the 2015-16 season.

The F&W survey was based on data and observations of F&W managers in 10 states.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2019 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

Advocacy Group Seeks Changes To Tax Laws Related To Natural Disasters

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Last year was a record year of natural disasters, including hurricanes and wildfires which inflicted huge economic losses on timberland owners in the U.S. South and West Coast.  The Forest Landowners Association (FLA) is leading an effort to advocate for changes to federal tax laws to assist forest landowners with catastrophic losses due to natural disasters.

The Forest Recovery Act (H.R. 1444), by Congressman Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), seeks to eliminate the “basis limitation rule,” allowing the fair market value loss of timber as a result of a natural disaster to be tax-deductible.

Currently, forest landowners may only deduct the lesser of the fair market value or the cost basis, which is often $0 or a fraction of the fair market value.  The new law would allow forest owners to deduct the full market value for the timber prior to the loss.

The basis limitation rule disincentivizes private landowners from growing trees, which in turn limits available forest products, hurts rural economies, and endangers the environment.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SPRING 2019 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW