John T. Shannon earned forestry degrees from NC State University and Duke University and a law degree from UALR. He has served as the Arkansas State Forester since 1994.

Our state forester’s perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing southern forest landowners.

A native of California, Pennsylvania, Prof. Hoover received BS and MS degree from Pennsylvania State University. He spent two years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Lt., including one year in the Republic of Vietnam. He received a Ph.D. from Iowa State University. He joined Purdue in 1974.  His appointment is split among teaching, research, and extension activities.  He currently teaches courses dealing with the economics of property rights and institutional structures, forest economics, forest watershed management, and tax treatment of timber enterprises. He’s nationally known as an expert in the application of the federal income and estate tax to non-industrial private forest owners and has lectured throughout the United States on this subject. He writes a tax column for the Tree Farmer magazine, has been an author of the last four editions of the U.S. Forest Service’s official tax publication, Forest Owners’ Guide to the Federal Income Tax, and is founder and chairman of the National Timber Tax Website, http://www.timbertax.org  

Topic: Taxation

“Professor Hoover will update you on the latest changes in the tax law applicable to timber, including Form 1099 requirements and the calculation of casualty loss deductions. He’ll also review capital gains requirements to be certain that you file the correct forms, reforestation tax expense and the $100,000 deduction for roads, machinery etc.  Professor Hoover welcomes question and comments during his presentation to guarantee that the presentation will meet your informational needs.”

Dr. Matthew Pelkki is a Professor and holds the George H. Clippert Endowed Chair of Forest Resource Economics, Management, and Policy at the School of Forest Resources at the University of Arkansas-Monticello.  A native of Saginaw, Michigan, Dr. Pelkki has a Bachelor’s degree (Forestry) from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment, and Masters and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota’s College of Natural Resources.  Dr. Pelkki was on the faculty of the Department of Forestry at the University of Kentucky from 1991 to 2001, and joined UAM’s School of Forest Resources in 2001.  He teaches courses in financial analysis, forest economics, and forest management.  His current research projects include numerical methods applied to forest optimization, non-industrial private forest management in the mid-Gulf South, economics of biomass production and carbon sequestration in forestry, and forest-based economic development.  An author of more than 90 research publications, Dr. Pelkki was a member of a 1996 National Academy of Science research team to Russia and held a Fulbright Senior Scholarship to Novosibirsk State University (Russia) in 1998-99.   Dr. Pelkki is a member of the Society of American Foresters, is a Certified Forester and a registered forester in the state of Arkansas.

• Overview of biomass conversion processes (enzymatic and thermo-chemical conversion)
• Likely sources of forest-biomass for biofuels (logging residue, roundwood, dedicated bioenergy plantations)
• Critical issues surrounding forest-biofuel development (production costs, ecosystem impacts, impacts on existing wood markets)
• Beyond biofuels – new forest products and markets

 Dave Krog is the first CEO of AgraGate Climate Credits Corp. AgraGate based in West Des Moines, Iowa, is the leading supplier of carbon credit aggregation services to American farmers, ranchers and private forest owners. AgraGate was established as wholly owned subsidiary of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation in June 2007. AgraGate will significantly expand the IFBF’s leading Carbon Credit Aggregation Program, which began in 2003. AgraGate combines carbon credits from agricultural offset projects, creating pools of credits for certification and sale on the Chicago Climate Exchange. Electric utilities with coal-burning generating plants are one example of carbon credits purchasers. Prior to joining AgraGate, Krog was a co-founder and vice president of research and development for E-Markets, which provides e-commerce solutions for companies in the agriculture and food industries. Krog was raised on a corn and soybean farm in north-central Iowa. He was educated at Iowa State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and master’s and doctoral degrees in agricultural economics. He was a research associate at ISU’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development for eight years, and then worked in the economic and market research division of Farmland Industries. Before co-founding E-Markets in 1996, Krog was with the Specialty Plant Products Division of Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. Dave and his family live in Des Moines, Iowa. (Date of Birth: June 7, 1958)

Carbon Credits:  An Emerging Revenue Opportunity for Land Owners

• Better understand the carbon credit market and how it works
• Learn how to become eligible to participate in the carbon credit market
• Learn how forestry land owners can participate in this new market
• Learn about the potential revenue opportunities as well as the risks associated with participation

Greg joined CellFor Corporation in April of 2004 to develop and manage the company’s sales in the Western Gulf region including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.  Greg came to CellFor after serving as Director of Sales for the Forest Technology Group in South Carolina. Greg’s experience includes nearly fourteen years as a regional sales manager with UAP Timberland, LLC. providing herbicide consulting services and products to the forestry and utility markets in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.  Greg also served ten years as a silviculturist on the Ouachita National Forest on the Fourche and Winona Ranger Districts located in Danville and Perryville, Arkansas.  Greg began his forestry career with Weyerhaeuser Company in their logging and forest inventory departments in Mountain Pine, Arkansas. Greg earned his Bachelor of Science degree in forest management at Stephen F. Austin State University located in Nacogdoches, Texas.  He serves on the board of directors of the Forest Landowners Association and Arkansas Forestry Association.  As an active member in the Society of American Foresters, Greg has served in many capacities and was elected Fellow in 2000. 

Varietal forestry will be introduced, discussing the rationale driving its rapid adoption.  The production process will be briefly outlined and the increased value of planting varieties will be addressed in terms of enhanced NPV, BLV, and IRR.

Assistant State Forester based at Arkansas Forestry Commission headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. Arnold is a registered forester (complete bio-sketch to be provided by Arnold Hameister).

• Discuss the Arkansas Forestry Commission cost share programs.
• The BMP program; all aspects of the program:
• Handling complaints where water quality has been impacted by silvicultural practices.
• BMP Training.
• The results of the 5th implementation monitoring of BMPs in Arkansas:
• Methodology used to collect and analyze the data.
• Break down the results and describe each BMP category and each categories implementation rate.
• Different landowner types (Fed., Industry, Non-industrial, etc).
• Implementation rate of each landowner type. 

 Jack Lutz, PhD - Forest Research Group

Dr. Jack Lutz is Principal and Forest Economist of the Forest Research Group and Director of Global Research and Valuations for FourWinds Capital Management, and has over 25 years of experience in timberland investments in academic, industry, research and consulting positions. He is editor of Forest Research Notes, a quarterly newsletter on timberland investments and market dynamics and a speaker internationally at timberland investment seminars and conferences. Dr. Lutz worked as a Resource Economist for James W. Sewall Company from 1998-2004. He was a Senior Forest Economist at Hancock Timber Resource Group from 1994-1998. Dr. Lutz was a natural resources consultant from 1990-1994 and a research forester at the University of New Hampshire from 1985-1990. Before that he worked with Container Corporation of America as a timber planning analyst, with Tennessee River Pulp & Paper Company as a financial analyst, and with the USDA Forest Service as an inventory forester. Dr. Lutz received his PhD in Natural Resources and his BS Forestry from the University of New Hampshire. He has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

 Jody Pagan - Five Oaks Duck Lodge

Jody worked as a biologist for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for twelve years and worked with state, federal, and non-profit agency employees to restore thousands of acres of wetland in Arkansas.  During the latter part of Jody’s career with NRCS he traveled the country working with the greatest minds in wetland restoration and management.  Jody was able to play a major role in restoring hundreds of thousands acres of wetland through the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) across the country.  In October of 2005, George Dunklin, Jr. and Jody had a vision to start a company that would provide the most advanced science based technical assistance in waterfowl and wetland management to private landowners.  Their goal was to educate landowners and disprove management myths like, “flooding green tree reservoirs in October is not detrimental to red oak trees”.  They also developed several products to improve management on their property, such as Golden Grass waterfowl forage, a tree nursery where they grow containerized bottomland hardwood species for restoration and green tree reservoir renovation; and a full line of water control structures to regulate water levels in waterfowl impoundments.

• Coastal Plain Forestry and Wildlife Management.

• Fuel load reduction with cool equipment in Pine Plantations.

• Developing food plots.

• Inter-planting containerized hardwoods in Pine plantations and around food plots.

• Growing cottonwood planting stock for carbon sequestration projects.

•  Renovating Green Tree Reservoirs.

• Planting containerized red oaks in GTRs.

 Bob Campbell, PhD - Weyerhaeuser Research

 Derek Dougherty - Dougherty & Dougherty

Derek is CEO of Dougherty & Dougherty Forestry Services in Athens, GA, manager of a forestland investment company Progressive Forest Properties Group, LLC, and Manager of Progressive Realty Services, LLC (timberland sales firm). Derek is a registered forester in NC, SC, GA, Al, and MS and a real estate broker in NC and SC. Derek has worked in the forestland management, investment, and sales business since graduating from the University of Georgia with a BS in Forest Resources in 1993. Derek has published many articles on progressive forest management, varietal forestry, hardwood management, and wildlife management.

This talk will summarize our potential, our plantation needs, the necessary activities and quality to reach our potential, and a method to evaluate the success of each plantation establishment project.

 Page Gravely - GreenTrees, LLC

Senior Director at C2I, LLC the parent company for the GreenTrees forest restoration project (www.green-trees.com), and President of GreenTrees, LLC. Page is responsible for all landowner enrollment initiatives for GreenTrees and overall program operations and awareness. Page joined C2I in June 2007 after 10 years in the software technology industry where he held national and international Business Development positions.

Robert Bragg

Samuel Talbert

 Robert Bragg - Alpha Advisory Group Inc.

Robert Bragg is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with significant trust and investment experience.  Mr. Bragg provides comprehensive financial consulting and advice to a wide variety of clients. Areas of expertise include Investments, Retirement Planning, Estate Planning, Charitable Planning, and Small or Owner-only Businesses.  Mr. Bragg conducts financial seminars for various professional, community, charitable, and church groups. In addition, since 2003 Mr. Bragg has taught classes to other financial professionals including Continuing Education and classes on the NASD Series 63, 65, 66, 6, & 7 exams.  Prior to helping found Alpha Advisory Group, Bragg was Chief Financial Officer and Investment Vice President for a private trust company serving higher net worth clients and charitable trusts, as well as, an Investment Advisor Representative with Equity Services, Inc.  Mr. Bragg’s background includes 20 years of management experience with Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Nabisco, and Dreyer’s/Edy's Grand Ice Cream.

Samuel C. Talbert, Allied Financial Services

 Sam Talbert is an experienced estate planner and senior advisor.  He is a licensed mortgage banker, insurance agent, and Pre-Paid Legal district manager with extensive training in trust, charitable gifting, taxes, advanced insurance planning and safe money investing.  He and his associates with Allied Financial Services provide full circle of wealth planning specializing in safely growing their client’s wealth while prudently and legally helping reduce taxes for their clients now and for their heirs in the future. He has been a sponsor and requested speaker for the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association, AARP, and many Veterans Associations and retirement groups.  Sam has almost 18 years experience in the financial services business and has served as the Regional Vice President for Pioneer Financial Services, Design Benefit Plans, and as a manager for several of the nation’s largest insurance and financial services companies for the State of Arkansas.  Mr. Talbert and his family are land and timber owners themselves with knowledge and insight that many other advisors do not have.  

• Treasure in Your Own Portfolio
• Veterans Benefits
• Carbon Credits
• Life Settlement
• Your Insurability and Net Worth
• Painless Donation

Pat Dubose (left) & Brian Davis (right)

 Brian Davis, RF, ACF - Davis Dubose Forestry

Dana Hinkley - Logger Rescue, Inc, Stihl & ATPA