Tree Farmer - Spring 2012 - (Page 4)

Telling Us Your Stories By Help fix the estate Tax by from the president 4 Managing your family Tree Farm is a long-term bet. And in a time of a seemingly unending array of pests, pathogens, catastrophic fires, flooding, drought, and more, that bet all too often seems tenuous. We plant a tree today and perhaps we get a bit of income in 15, or 40, or 60 years, depending on your woods. This brings home the true meaning of a family forest – we plant trees for our kids and grandkids. Yet our tax laws treat these lands like a share of stock you can trade at any time or a one-year CD. We all know there is just something fundamentally different about our woods than a financial instrument, yet our federal estate tax laws do not allow for that. Those laws don’t account for the difference we see every day. Now some may ask, “What is the public’s interest in keeping these private woodlands as woodlands? Why should a non-owner care?” We know the public has a BIG stake. Our Tree Farms filter our drinking water, clean our air, provide habitat for the flora and fauna we all love, give us our green space, support all those goodpaying forest jobs – and you know that we do it without charging our fellow citizens a nickel. Equally important, our Tree Farms provide all of us with the wood products we use every day. We know that one of the knottiest challenges we face as woodland owners is what happens to the land we are stewarding for our families after we are gone. The research consistently shows that it is one of the issues we worry about most. Too often the estate tax can drive the conversion of our woodlands to development or fragment it so much that active management becomes economically impossible. We know all Americans have a stake in keeping our woodlands as woodlands so they can keep getting the benefits they too-often take for granted. The latest change to the federal estate tax runs out at the end of the year. So we have an important opportunity to do two things: put in place an estate tax that encourages the continuation of family woodlands as woodlands; and use this as a chance to tell our story to Congress, the administration ,and the American public. What we have here is a “teachable moment.” That’s why the American Forest Foundation is launching a year-long campaign to fix the federal estate tax – and tell the compelling story of what Tree Farmers are doing every day to give our communities a better environment, economy, and quality of life. We are going to use examples of the terrific work that families are doing across this country as stewards of the land and our forest heritage. We will make the link between how the martin Tom work Tree Farmers do on the ground improves their communities. We will buy ads, educate decision-makers, go to the media, activate our fellow Tree Farmers, and we might even post a Tweet or two. In short, we are launching an integrated campaign to both win the issue and win the day. But we need your help. We have the statistics but decision-makers, reporters, and the public are moved by stories – stories of how bad policies get in the way of good stewardship. We need you to tell us your story and give us permission to pass it on. Tell us what you have done to improve your Tree Farm. Have you put in a riparian barrier? Have you created wildlife habitat? Have you built a trail? Have you brought in a school group? Has the federal estate tax driven your family to fragment your Tree Farm or to sell it for other uses? Or maybe your family has not been faced with the estate tax issue yet but you are Continued on page 37 Tom Martin is the president and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, based in Washington, D.C. Tree Farmer SPRING 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tree Farmer - Spring 2012

Tree Farmer - Spring 2012
From the President
Take the Measure of Your Woodland
Tree Farm & Politics
Pay Dirt
Thriving on Challenge
Beyond Bug Spray
Transforming Cropland into Tranquil Woodlands
Ties to the Land
Woodland Security
Wildlife Matters
Taxing Issues

Tree Farmer - Spring 2012