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Betsy Bates

Strickland Joins F&W To Lead Timberland Acquisitions And Sales Activities

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ALBANY, Ga. — Jody T. Strickland, former land acquisitions manager for Weyerhaeuser Company, has joined F&W Forestry Services, Inc., as vice president of Timberland Transactions.

Strickland joins F&W with more than 26 years diverse experience in the forestry sector in numerous capacities including timberland acquisitions and sales, land management, forest operations, inventory, harvesting, and wood procurement.

F&W is a major U.S. and international forestry management, consulting, and services firm headquartered in Albany, Ga., with operations throughout the major forestry regions of the U.S., South America, and France.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Jody Strickland join the F&W team,” said Marshall Thomas, F&W president.  “She has tremendous experience in timberland acquisitions and sales and will greatly enhance F&W’s forest real estate capabilities.”

Thomas said Strickland’s principal responsibility will be to expand F&W’s timberland acquisitions and sales services to clients throughout the company’s U.S. and international service areas.

Under Strickland’s leadership, F&W will locate forest properties for clients, conduct a financial analysis on the purchase, and oversee the acquisition.  Additionally, F&W offers investors turnkey administration of their forestland, including integrated forest management, timber sales, accounting services, and, if desirable, the disposition of the properties.

Prior to joining F&W, Strickland spent four years as acquisition manager at Weyerhaeuser where she was responsible for development and execution of the Timberlands Growth Strategy following the company’s conversion to REIT status.  During her tenure the company purchased more than $2.8 billion worth of timberland.

Strickland’s background also includes 20 years of experience at Weyerhaeuser and Proctor & Gamble in leadership positions in forest operations, wood procurement, land management, harvesting, engineering, and manufacturing.

In addition to her career in the private forestry sector, she was Forest Management Chief at the Georgia Forestry Commission where she managed state forest land and directed the agency’s Water Quality, Forest Health, Rural Forestry Assistance, Forest Stewardship, Forest Conservation and Legacy, and Forest Inventory Analysis programs.

Strickland earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Florida.  She is a member of the Georgia Forestry Association and she currently chairs the Georgia Forest Foundation.  She is also a member of the UGA Warnell School of Forest Resources Center for Forest Business Advisory Council.

F&W provides services to forestland owners in the U.S. through its network of 19 branch offices in 12 states.  The company manages private forestlands in South America through its offices in Brazil and Uruguay and recently entered into a partnership with French forestry firm Cabinet Coudert to expand timberland investment opportunities in Europe and French-speaking North Africa.
About F&W:
Established in 1962, F&W Forestry Services, Inc., of Albany, Ga., is one of the nation’s oldest and largest forest consulting and management firms.  The company handles timber sales and provides comprehensive forest management and consulting services to private and industrial landowners through a network of 19 offices in 12 states comprising the Southern pine belt, the Central and Appalachia regions, Upstate New York, and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. It also manages private forestlands in South America and Europe with offices in Uruguay, Brazil, and France.
Related Links:  
www.fwforestry.net

Betsy Bates

F&W Buys Stake In French Forestry Firm; Opens Door to New Opportunities in Europe, North Africa

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ALBANY, Ga., Oct. 10–F&W Forestry Services, Inc. has announced that it has acquired an interest in a French forestry management firm that will provide both companies with expanded opportunities for growth—notably in Europe and French-speaking North Africa.

Marshall Thomas, president of Albany, Ga.-based F&W, said his company had acquired an interest in Cabinet Coudert, a full-service forestry management firm based near Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region in the heart of the forested area of south central France.

Cabinet Coudert is headed by Sylvestre Coudert, grandson of the firm’s founder.  The company currently provides forest management services to European forest landowners, largely in France.  Under the link-up with F&W, service is expected to be extended to forested areas throughout Europe and North Africa.

F&W, with 19 branch offices in the U.S., provides services to forestland owners in 12 states in the United States.

Cabinet Coudert maintains four offices, all in France, but provides forestry services through France, Europe, and forested French-speaking regions of northern Africa.

About F&W

Established in 1962, F&W Forestry Services, Inc., of Albany, Ga., is one of the nation’s oldest and largest forest consulting and management firms.  The company handles timber sales and provides comprehensive forest management and consulting services to private and industrial landowners through a network of 19 offices in 12 states comprising the Southern pine belt, the Central and Appalachia regions, Upstate New York, and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. It also manages private forestlands in South America with offices in Uruguay and Brazil.

 

About Cabinet Coudert

Cabinet Coudert was established in France by the Coudert family more than 100 years ago.  Headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, the company provides a full range of forestry services to clients including forest management, timber sales, feasibility studies, import/export studies, property and forest appraisals, real estate sales, timber investing, and vegetation management in order to safeguard electricity distribution. The company maintains four offices serving clients in France, Europe, and North Africa.

 

Related Links:  

www.fwforestry.net

www.cabinet-coudert.com

Betsy Bates

Timber Markets Off To Uncertain Fall Season

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The economic recovery in the forestry sector got off to an uncertain start in the fall season, with timber prices softening and prospects for a wet El Nino winter looking less certain.

Marshall Thomas, president of F&W Forestry Services, Inc., one of the nation’s leading forestry management and consulting firms, wrote in his company’s quarterly newsletter, The F&W Forestry Report, that a sharp drop in housing starts in August was “disturbing” for timber growers and the housing industry.

“At the same time, inexplicably, lumber prices based on the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Index, rose from $377 in early July to $409 in late August.

“One positive (or negative, depending on your perspective) indicator is the ratio of the Framing Lumber Index to sawtimber stumpage prices.  From 1997 to 2011, this ratio ranged from 8 to 10 (meaning lumber prices were 8 to 10 times stumpage prices).  For the last two or three years, the ratio has been in the 12 to 14 range.  If we can get back to the “normal” ratio (and keep lumber prices up) it looks like we could expect to get back up to $40 to $50 dollars per ton for southern pine sawtimber—a figure everyone would be happy with.”

Other less promising developments for timber growers, noted by Thomas, was the decline in the chances of an “El Nino” event this fall and winter, which would normally bring more rainfall that would likely bolster timber prices because difficult logging conditions.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE FALL 2014 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

El Nino Prospects Reduced; Drought Returns To South/Southeast

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U.S. weather and drought monitors have reduced their forecasts of the chance of an El Nino event this fall and winter and, separately, report the return of drought conditions to the South/Southeast regions of the country.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has revised downward their forecast of an El Nino event this fall and winter.  NOAA lowered its expectation of an El Nino event in the Northern Hemisphere in the coming months to 60-65 percent, down from 80 percent earlier.

The Drought Monitor reports that early stages of drought conditions have returned to parts of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Carolinas.  The western U.S., especially California, is still suffering severe drought conditions.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE FALL 2014 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

Betsy Bates

Wood Pellet Plants Keep Coming To Southern United States

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Six new wood pellet plants have been announced recently for the Southern U.S. that could add an estimated two million tons annually of pellets for shipment to Europe.

Four of the facilities will be brand new plants and two are conversions from previous production of related products.

Production from all six is expected to be exported to countries in the European Union to reduce emissions from coal-fired electrical generating plants.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE FALL 2014 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

mandr-fw

Wood Pellet Exports From U.S. South To Europe Set Record High In 2003

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Wood pellets grown and produced largely in the U.S. Southeast for export to Europe virtually doubled in 2013 to 3.2 million tons with no slowdown in sight.

The pellets are in strong demand in Europe by electricity producers as a substitute or supplement for coal to fuel power generators with lower carbon emissions into the atmosphere and to meet European Union environmental requirements.  The United Kingdom accounted for 59 percent of the U.S. pellet exports in 2013.

With no slowdown on the horizon, new wood pellet producing plants—mostly in the U.S. South—continue to spring up or are in planning stages.  The bulk of pellet production in this country is in the Southeast, mid-Atlantic, and Gulf regions because of abundant timber supplies and relatively low shipping costs for export to Europe. 

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SUMMER 2014 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

mandr-fw

Forestry Community Uncertain About EPA’s Proposed New Rules On Electric Plant Emissions

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President Obama’s proposed new regulations on reducing carbon emissions by coal-fired electric generating plants has attracted cautious reviews from the forestry community that has an  important stake in seeing  greater use of biomass fuels by the power industry.

Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to regulate carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants by mandating they be reduced by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

EPA has not yet taken a firm position on how emissions from power generating plants and other carbon emitting industries using biomass fuels will be treated in measuring carbon emissions.  This is an issue that presumably will be addressed as EPA moves to implement the carbon emission rules and regulations.

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SUMMER 2014 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

mandr-fw

U.S. Senate Finance Committee Begins Process Looking Into Revision Of U.S. Tax Code

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The Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate, which has jurisdiction over tax laws, has announced the first hearings in a comprehensive effort to reform and reorganize the federal tax code for the first time since 1986.

In a joint statement, Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ranking Minority Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), said the hearings will be first in a series this summer to examine several issues that are essential to overhauling “the nation’s broken tax code through comprehensive reform.”

“This summer, the Senate Finance Committee will forge ahead with hearings that examine reforming the broken, dysfunctional tax code in areas ranging from taxpayer privacy protection to education to corporate taxation,” the senators said.

The prospect of a wide-ranging overhaul of the tax code as it applies to timber and timberland owners is generating concern in forestry circles.  Key tax provisions in existing law affecting timberland owners include capital gain treatment of most timber sales and deductibility of some forest management expenses, including reforestation. 

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SUMMER 2014 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

mandr-fw

Prospects for El Niño Event Brighten Outlook for Timber Markets

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Timber prices in the second quarter were stronger than a year ago and with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasting a high probability of an El Niño event this fall and winter, the outlook appears encouraging for tree growers.

Marshall Thomas, president of F&W Forestry Services that operates across the southern pine belt as well as the central and northeast forested regions of the U.S., said this climatic condition could mean wetter than normal conditions in the South.

“Wetter than normal conditions have the potential to limit the supply of trees that can be logged due to wet ground conditions and impassable dirt roads. Constant demand and reduced supply typically results in an increase in price,” Thomas writes in the summer edition of his firm’s newsletter, The F&W Forestry Report.

“Throw in the likelihood that demand will actually increase during this period—albeit slowly—and we have the makings of a very Merry Christmas for timber growers,” Thomas said.  

TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE SUMMER 2014 F&W FORESTRY REPORT, SUBSCRIBE NOW

mandr-fw

Wet Weather, Rising Home Construction Brighten Outlook for Timber Growers

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ALBANY, GA, April 2014 — With help from wet weather and a modest recovery in new home construction, the outlook is finally turning brighter for tree growers in the South and other timber regions of the nation.

That’s the encouraging outlook for the forest-products sector of the U.S. economy from Marshall Thomas who heads F&W Forestry Services, Inc., one of the largest U.S. forest management and consulting firms based in Albany, Ga., in the heart of the nation’s southern pine belt.

“After years of depressing news for timber growers, all the economic indicators seem to be positive now—housing starts are up, building permits are up, interest rates are up slightly but still very low, and exchange rates are favorable,” Thomas writes in the spring issue of his company’s quarterly newsletter, The F&W Forestry Report.

“While this recovery, at least in our sector, has been frustratingly slow, it has at least been consistent—which means we should be able to expect slow but steady price increases for trees as we continue through the recovery—probably not reaching the highs of the 1990’s but perhaps at least returning to trend,” Thomas said.

Thomas said two factors other than demand for lumber and other wood products that influence U.S. timber markets are weather conditions and exchange rates of the U.S. versus the Canadian dollar. At the present time, the currency values of the two countries are about the same—with neither country having the big currency advantage that Canada has had in the recent past.

Weather patterns also influence timber prices because extreme wet conditions adversely affect timber harvesting operations. With a 50-50 chance that El Nino will bring wet conditions to the Southern U.S. in the coming months, timber prices stand to be further elevated.

“That leaves us in a pretty good situation,” Thomas writes.  “Over the long term (three to five years), we should see steadily rising prices for pine and hardwood sawtimber and we have a coin-toss chance that we will have some wet weather influences towards the end of this year into next winter.”

About F&W:

Established in 1962, F&W Forestry Services, Inc., of Albany, Ga., is one of the nation’s oldest and largest forest consulting and management firms.  The company handles timber sales and provides comprehensive forest management and consulting services to private and industrial landowners through a network of 19 offices in 12 states comprising the Southern pine belt, the Central and Appalachia regions, Upstate New York, and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. It also manages private forestlands in South America with offices in Uruguay and Brazil.