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2012 National Tree Farmer Convention: Concurrent Sessions

2012 National Tree Farmer Convention: Concurrent Sessions

Women's Track

Advocacy for Women

Intimidated by policy and politics?  Learn how you can be an advocate on issues, like the estate tax, that affect your family your Tree Farm’s future.  Hear from women leaders in Tree Farm’s advocacy network about their experiences. 

Melissa Moeller has been a Public Affairs Manager for the American Forest Foundation since February 2010.  She manages grassroots advocacy programs and influences public policy issues important to family forest owners.  Prior to joining the staff at AFF, Melissa worked for the National School Boards Association (NSBA), where she increased engagement in grassroots advocacy programs and supported federal education policy initiatives.  Prior to NSBA, Melissa also worked for the United Motorcoach Association.  Melissa received her MA in Political Communication from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD and her BS in Psychology and Political Science from Furman University in Greenville, SC.

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Leaving a legacy: Planning for the successful transfer of the family forest

Keeping the family forest intact through generational transfers requires planning.  This presentation will focus on the activities that the forest landowner should engage in to transfer the maximum amount of assets to heirs.  Special focus will be on steps women can and should take (for example, making sure they know the activities their spouse was engaged in on the property).  While this is ultimately about planning to avoid taxes, it is really about keeping the family forest intact and allowing management to continue.

Dr. Tammy Cushing is an Assistant Professor & Extension Forestry Specialist.  Her area of expertise is in taxation of private forest land.  Previous research has looked at the impact of the estate tax on forest landowners and the cumulative impact of property, severance and income taxes on land value.

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Timber Tax 101 for Women

This informative session will cover the main timber tax rules and answer your questions.

Linda Wang is National Timber Tax Specialist with USDA Forest Service in Washington D.C. She is the author for the latest edition of Federal Income Tax on Timber, A Key to Your Most Frequently Asked Questions, a timber tax publication.  She is the co-author of the annual Tax Tips for the Forest Landowners article. She has a Ph.D. in Forest Economics and a CPA certificate in Washington State.

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Forest Health Track

Farm Bill Tools for Forest Health

Numerous Tree Farmers have used Farm Bill tools to help manage their forest in the face of growing invasive species, wildlife and other threats. Learn how you and your Tree Farm can also benefit from these same Farm Bill tools.  We’ll also share the latest information from our 2012 Farm Bill Progress Report, illustrating how forest owners are faring as participants overall.

Christine Cadigan is a Public Affairs Manager at the American Forest Foundation. She first joined AFF in February 2011 as the Public Affairs and Conservation Coordinator and then moved into the Manager role shortly thereafter. Prior to AFF, Christine completed Masters’ degrees in both Forestry and Environmental Management from Duke University, concentrating her studies on woody biomass supply and demand in the Southeast.  Christine has brief experiences working with the USFS Southern Research Station, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Virginia Department of Forestry. She is originally from Richmond, Virginia and completed her undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Virginia.

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Controlling Invasive Plants on Small Woodlots

This presentation will cover the impacts of invasive plants and the characteristics which make them so successful.  An integrated approach to control will be discussed with a focus on herbicides and their application methods.  Specific herbicide active ingredients used for control will be described in detail.  Lastly, four invasive plant species, a grass, vine, shrub, and tree, will be covered as examples of growth characteristics requiring different control measures. 

David Jackson is currently employed by Penn State Cooperative Extension as a Regional Forest Resources Educator.  He has programming responsibilities in multiple counties throughout central Pennsylvania; his primary responsibility is to provide educational programs for private forest landowners and youth. Dave has worked in various positions with the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Industry, State Forestry, and Private Forestry Consulting in the past before coming to Penn State.

Dave earned his Bachelor of Science degree from The College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, NY in 1988 in the fields of forest resource management and forest biology and completed a Master’s of Forest Resources at The Pennsylvania State University on forest vegetation management in 2007.

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For the Future Track

Basics of Estate Planning and the Tools Available for Family Forests

The hot topic this year related to taxation is the estate tax and the knowledge that there will be changes this year.  This presentation will provide you with the basics of the estate tax process.  Once the basics have been presented, we will discuss how to plan for transfer of ownership and the incentives that exist for forest landowners.  Since no incentive comes without some kind of string, the requirements and unintended consequences of these incentives will be discussed.  The goal is to provide landowners with enough information to plan to minimize the impact of the estate tax.

Dr. Tammy Cushing is an Assistant Professor & Extension Forestry Specialist.  Her area of expertise is in taxation of private forest land.  Previous research has looked at the impact of the estate tax on forest landowners and the cumulative impact of property, severance and income taxes on land value.

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Boomers, Geeks and Geezers: Communication and Motivation across the Generations

This session is an especially memorable introduction to the primary differences among key generations populating the workplace and owning and inheriting today’s woodlands. Participants will leave the program saying “No wonder!” and have a new appreciation for the generations that sometimes drive them crazy. More importantly the audience will get valuable insights and take away principles for how to better communicate with key stakeholders (and family members, too)!

Tom Davidson is a seasoned leadership trainer, executive coach and speaker who is also forester by training and experience. He holds BS degrees in forestry and agricultural economics from North Carolina State University, an MBA from the University of Richmond, and an MS in organization development from the American University in Washington, DC. Tom worked his way up from field forester to vice president of human resources and organization development for a large paper company. In private practice for 13 years, Tom is author of The 8 Greatest Mistakes New Managers Make: Surviving Your Transition to a Leadership Position.

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Wildlife Track

More details coming soon...

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