Resources for land owners

Many resources that address forest management and stewardship planning and estate planning may be helpful as you investigate succession planning. Many of these resources focus on the mechanics of the legal and financial process, and so they complement the family decision-making process highlighted in this workbook. Many are available online.

Succession and Estate Planning

• Your Land, Your Legacy: Deciding the Future of Your Land to Meet the Needs of You and Your Family
  Source: The Univeristy of Massachesetts Amherst
• Your family land: legacy or memory? An introduction to the family land protection process
  Source: USFS Northeaster Area, State and Private Forestry 2008
• Preserving the Family Woods: Tools to help guide transfer to the next generation of landowners
  by USFS Northeastern Area, State and Private Forestry; Becker, John; Jacobson, Michael 2008
• Preserving Family Lands I, II & III By Stephen J. Small.
  Small is recognized as the nation's leading authority on private land protection options and strategies. Steve has updated Preserving Family Lands: Book I. Includes information on conservation easements. 
• Estate Planning Options for Family Forests: What Will Become of Your Timberland?
  USDA Forest Service GTR SRS-112. By William Siegel, Harry Haney Jr., and John Greene. 2009.
  Introduces forest landowners estate planning including Federal estate and gift tax law with a focus on forest land ownership, forms of business organization for forest landowners, and general estate planning tools.
• Forest Stewardship Estate Planning
  A six-page introduction to estate planning from Pennsylvania State University, College of Agricultural Sciences Cooperative Extension. 1997.
• Estate Planning
  University of Florida Extension. Explains current inheritance tax law and how it affects nonindustrial private landowners. Includes links to other sources of information and supporting documents.

Conservation Easements

• Landowner's Guide to Conservation Easements
  by Bick Steven and Harry L. Haney. 2003.
• Working Forest Conservation Easement: A Primer for Forest Landowners
  by Jonathan Kays and Lori Bettenbender, Maryland Cooperative Extension. 2002.
• National resources for landowners looking for a conservation organization in their area: 
• Land Conservation Assistance Network
• Land Trust Alliance
• USFS Forest Legacy Program

Taxes

• National Timber Tax Website
  A reference for timber landowners and accountants, attorneys, consulting foresters, and other professionals who work with them. Extensive information on tax-related issues; includes a section on estate planning.
• Timber Taxation
  A general guide about income taxes for forestland owners.

Other Management Planning

• Oregon State University Forestry Extension programs:
• Forest Management Planning for Woodland Owners
• Master Woodland Managers
• Oregon Department of Forestry
  Information on forest practice law and regulations in the state of Oregon.

Other

• Forestry & Natural Resource Webinar Portal
  Access current and archived natural resource webinars by experts from across the country. These educational presentations cover a wide variety of topics interesting to woodland owners. The portal is a service of the Southern Regional Extension Forestry Office and participating land-grant universities in the South.
• Forests on the Edge: Housing Development on America's Private Forests
  by Susan M. Stein, Ronald E. McRoberts, Ralph J. Alig, Mark D. Nelson, David M. Theobald, Mike Eley, Mike Dechter, and Mary Carr. 2005. General Technical Report PNW-GTR-636, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, Oregon.
• Woodland Owners Guide to Internet Resources (NE area)
• Dealing with Substance Abuse - a short video from Ties to the Land

Ties to the Land Articles

These articles are designed to help address some of the topics that arise over the course of succession planning.  They range from assessing the value of your land to communicating with family members to finding forestry professionals.