Of Interest to Forest Landowners

Online forestry publications:  Click on the title to access the full publication.

Income Tax Deduction for Timber Casualty Loss
Timber damaged or destroyed by hurricane, fire, earthquake, ice, hail, tornado, high wind and other storms are “casualty losses” that may allow timberland owners to claim a deduction on their federal income tax returns. Yet the specific requirements on calculating the loss by the tax law and rules may result in low or no deductions being available in certain cases.

Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2008 Tax Year
This bulletin summarizes key federal income tax provisions for forestland owners, foresters, loggers, forest product businesses, and tax practitioners. It is current as of October 1, 2008, and supersedes Management Bulletin R8-MB 130. Consult your tax and legal professionals for advice on your particular tax situation.

The Southern Timber Market to 2040
Timber market analysis of the South's predominantly private timberland finds that the 13 southern states produce nearly 60 percent of the nation's timber, an increase from the mid-1900s. Projections with the Subregional Timber Supply model show that, despite a 60 percent increase in the area of pine plantations, the South will experience a 1 percent decline in private timberland area as other forest types shrink. Because of expected productivity gains for plantation forests and conversions of some agricultural lands to natural forests, the South's industrial wood output is projected to increase by more than 50 percent between 1995 and 2040.

A Guide to the Care and Planting of Southern Pine Seedlings - (R8-MB39 Revised 1996)
This booklet is designed to encourage landowners, land managers, county foresters, forestry consultants, and nursery managers to be certain that their seedlings receive proper care. As a reminder, it reviews the elements of seedling care in an idealized reforestation system. For our purposes here, the system begins with lifting and packing in the nursery, includes transportation and storage, and ends when the seedling roots are in proper contact with the soil.
Pristine Version - 20MB Captured Version  - 12MB (Subject to OCR - Optical Character Recognition)

Romancing the Crop Tree
Foresters and landowners alike desire alternatives to traditional silvicultural techniques. For example, many landowners are unwilling to clearcut their forest. They want economic return, but not at the expense of removing the entire forest. Yet, in the South, most knowledgeable foresters are reluctant to recommend selection cutting because it too readily drifts into "high grading" if done improperly. In addition, on public lands, society often places a higher value on forest amenities other than commercial timber production.

Oak Underplanting Success Program (OAKUS) This interactive program can be used by land managers and landowners to develop oak planting and restoration strategies in Arkansas Boston Mountains. The OAKUS Program can be found at: http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/OAKUS. OAKUS tells you how many trees to plant today for each successful tree at a specified future time. The number of tress to plant is based on your specific site planting conditions. All you need to do is enter information about your planting site and planting preferences. The use of the OAKUS model can reduce the need to invest in post harvest remedial measures. It also can be used to teach the fundamentals of regeneration ecology to students.

Upland oak ecology symposium: history, current conditions, and sustainability - 2004 Fifty-one papers address the ecology, history, current conditions, and sustainability of upland oak forests - with emphasis on the Interior Highlands. Subject categories were selected to provide focused coverage of the state-of-the-art research and understanding of upland oak ecology of the region.

• Individual papers from this publication

Guidelines for producing quality longleaf pine seeds
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seeds are sensitive to damage during collection, processing, treatment, and storage. High-quality seeds are essential for successfully producing nursery crops that meet management goals and perform well in the field. Uniformity in the production of pine seedlings primarily depends on prompt and uniform seed germination, early seedling establishment, and a variety of cultural practices that are applied as the seedlings develop. The best collecting, handling, and processing methods maximize performance attributes and reduce the need for extensive nursery cultural practices to compensate for poor seed quality. Guidelines are presented that will help seed dealers, orchard managers, and nursery personnel produce high-quality longleaf pine seeds and improve the efficiency of nursery production.

Forest Landowners' Guide to the Federal Income Tax -- Agriculture Handbook No. 718
Updates, expands, and supersedes Agric. Handbook 708.  171 pages.

Controlling exotic plants in your forest 
The author discusses the impacts of exotic plants and suggests control and rehabilitation measures. Trees, shrubs, and vines addressed include silk tree or mimosa, Chinese and Japanese privet, kudzu, multiflora rose, Japanese honeysuckle, and Chinese wisteria.

Southern pulpwood production, 2006The South's production of pulpwood increased from 64.0 million cords in 2005 to 64.7 million cords in 2006. Roundwood production increased 123,300 cords to 46.3 million cords and accounted for 72 percent of the total pulpwood production. The use of wood residue increased 3 percent to 18.3 million cords. Alabama led the South in total production at 10.5 million cords. In 2006, 87 mills were operating and drawing wood from the 13 Southern States. Pulping capacity of southern mills increased from 124,567 tons per day in 2005 to 125,093 tons per day, and still accounts for more than 70 percent of the Nation's pulping capacity