Forest Landowner Briefings VIII

Año de Publicación

2025

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Forest Landowners: Since you live out of state, do you find it difficult to “stay in touch” with your East Texas property and the management associated with it? In this newsletter, you’ll find information and resources to help you “connect” with your investment. I live out of state, but have property in Texas. I don’t know much about forests or land management, and don’t know what agencies, companies, or individuals to contact when it comes to those matters. What can I do? Fortunately, in this day and age, there is a lot you can do without having to be “right there” in the midst of things. Though it is good to be able to visit your property when you can, there are ways to get information and have other “eyes on the ground” to help you in the proper management of your land. Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) foresters and other staff members can help you get started and point you in the right direction. The back page of this newsletter gives you the phone numbers of the East Texas District Offices. If you are not sure what TFS District your property is in, you can go to the TFS website and look it up by county. Click on “Contact Us” at the top of the homepage. Click on the “County” button, then input your county name. There you’ll find a listing for different TFS programs available in that office. Click on “Landowner Assistance” to find contact information for the forester and other district staff that work in that county. If you are “techie” (or even if you are not), there are some user-friendly applications that can provide you a wealth of information, and even let you make your own maps of your property. Go to the Texas Forest Informational Portal and explore the more than 25 apps that can give you a visual of your land and the surrounding areas; list resources for all sorts of management activities such as planting, road work, harvesting, and protecting soil and water while doing these activities; and MUCH more. You can also keep in touch by joining a Forest Landowner Association and/or Texas Forestry Association, the trade organization for forestry in Texas. LINKS http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/ContactUs – TFS website Contact Us page. http://texasforestinfo.tamu.edu – Texas Forest Informational Portal www.texasforestry.org – Texas Forestry Association I recently acquired my property and am excited about this new adventure in land ownership. However, I’ve found that I have more questions than answers. How can I find information about such things as mineral rights, installing ponds, protected animal and plant species, utility line regulations, and grazing livestock in my timberlands? The newly-launched got LAND? app can help you navigate the first stages of acquiring property. Once you answer a few questions, the app will provide resources tailored to fit your situation, location, and property goals. This app is a support tool that assists potential or new landowners during the initial stages of acquiring or owning property by providing management information and resources based on property goals selected. Check it out on your computer or mobile device. This online tool is a new addition to the Texas Forest Information Portal, a web-based application with several helpful landowner tools (see page 1 of this newsletter and http://texasforestinfo.tamu.edu). I have been told by a forester that my property in East Texas needs to be thinned. It has not been thinned before, but it is not economically feasible for me to do this at this time. What can I do? Texas A&M Forest Service is now accepting applications for the 2018 Southern Pine Beetle (SPB) Prevention Program Thinning Cost-Share. Through this program, eligible forest landowners can receive financial and technical assistance with forest thinning in order to reduce the threat of future SPB infestations and outbreaks. Funds provided by USDA Forest Service-Region 8 and Forest Health Protection can assist landowners with conducting first thin operations in overly dense, pulpwood-sized pine stands in 21 East Texas counties. “Our goal is to reduce the potential for SPB attacks on our forests while simultaneously increasing tree growth and vigor,” said Program Leader Shane Harrington. Eligible landowners may receive up to $50.00 per acre (100 acre maximum) to assist in conducting first thin operations. The forested property must meet several criteria and be located within one of the 21 priority counties which include: Angelina, Cass, Cherokee, Hardin, Harrison, Houston, Jasper, Liberty, Marion, Nacogdoches, Newton, Panola, Polk, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, and Walker. All approved thinning projects must be completed within 12 months of approval date. Interested landowners can view additional program criteria and download an application by visiting http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/SPB or contact their local Texas A&M Forest Service Office for more information. Deadline for application submissions is December 31, 2018. LINKS http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/SPB – SPB Prevention Cost Share Program Lumber prices have gone up; why haven’t timber prices followed suit? Landowners may wonder what the record-high lumber prices in the first half of 2018 signal for timber prices. This historically high lumber price leads many to expect higher prices for standing timber. However, the association between lumber and timber prices is loose over short time spans. Lumber and timber prices should rise and fall closely together, in theory. However, after plotting price fluctuations between 1984 and 2018, Forest Economist Nana Tian and Forest Resource Analyst Aaron Stottlemyer found that differences between lumber and timber prices can be dramatic over shorter periods, such as a quarter or one or more years, though the prices follow a similar pattern over many years. Several factors contribute to the short-term disconnect. «The price of lumber is primarily affected by the U.S. housing market, which continues to improve since the 2008 recession,» Tian explained. The U.S. housing market, current lumber production capacity, and reductions in Canadian imports all factor into record-high lumber prices in early 2018. However, timber prices have stayed relatively flat over the last couple of years and the primary reason is the abundant supply of standing timber. Technological advancement in lumber production can also weaken the correlation between lumber and timber prices. Abundant timber supplies and improved technology result in lower timber prices, even during periods when lumber is in high demand. LINKS https://bit.ly/2AbUkME – Full article Where can I find timber prices in my area? Texas Timber Price Trends is a bimonthly publication reporting average prices paid for standing timber in Texas. This report is intended only as a guide to general price levels. Individuals interested in buying and selling timber can use this report to monitor market trends and get a general idea of what timber is worth. However, it should not be used to judge the fair market value of a specific timber sale, which may vary considerably due to many factors. LINKS http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/TimberPriceTrends – Texas Timber Price Trends Where can I go for help? Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) has offices all over East Texas (and the rest of the state). Contact the TFS District Office serving the county where your property is located. Go to http://tfsweb.tamu.edu and click on “Contact Us,” then “County,” and then search for your county or click on the county of your choice on the map. Click on “Landowner Assistance” to get contact information for that area. For more info on these and other topics, go to the Texas A&M Forest Service website at http://tfsweb.tamu.edu, or contact the TFS District Office closest to your property. TFS District Offices: Carthage (903) 693-6865 Conroe (936) 273-2261 Crockett (936) 544-7798 Gilmer (903) 734-7007 Henderson (903) 657-0511 Hudson (Lufkin) (936) 875-4400 Huntsville (936) 295-5688 Jacksonville (903) 586-7545 Kirbyville / Jasper (409) 384-9427 Kountze / Woodville (409) 246-2484 Linden (903) 756-5571 Livingston / Liberty (936) 327-4832 Marshall / Longview (903) 938-8712 Nacogdoches (936) 564-9276 New Boston / Clarksville (903) 628-2711 Palestine (903) 729-7738 Pittsburg (903) 856-7181 San Augustine (936) 275-3438 You can still access past editions of this newsletter by going to http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/Water, clicking on “Publications” on the right-hand sidebar, and looking for “Forest Landowner Briefings.”