Farm Bureau Policy Development Fact Sheet No. 13 — 2014
FORESTRY PROBLEMS AND ISSUES FORESTRY IS AGRICULTURE According to Arkansas law, forestry is still considered separate from agriculture. During the last legislative session the timber industry gained full tax exemption on equipment purchases; this exemption puts Arkansas on a level playing field with our neighboring states. It also gives timber some of the same exemptions that agriculture currently enjoys, which provides an opportunity to change the law to include forestry as an agriculture product. This would make it easier for forestry to participate in future tax exemptions. Related Policy: Forestry 109, Taxes 153, Definition of Agriculture N-148 1. Should Farm Bureau policy support changes to tax code that considers forestry an agriculture product? FOREST CERTIFICATION - LANDOWNERS Over the last few years the concept of certification has become increasingly popular. Landowners have likely heard the terms Tree Farmer, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI), and a host of others. The difference between the certifications has more to do with paperwork than with management differences. The unfortunate thing for landowners is that each of these certifications are independent of the other. The benefit for landowners being certified is that it opens up additional markets for their wood and can in some instances bring a premium. Related Policy: Forestry 109, Private Forestry N-527 1. Should Farm Bureau support landowners creating a management plan on their timber and work to promote all certification processes to its membership? 2. Furthermore; should Farm Bureau support a particular certification process, if so which? FOREST CERTIFICATION – BUILDING PRODUCTS As companies and governments strive to be more “green” they are looking for ways to verify products are grown sustainably. As the Europeans take the lead on this there has been a big push to get wood and paper products that are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. Additionally, some companies are looking to build buildings that are Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design LEED certified. The Clinton Library and Heifer International are examples of LEED certified buildings in Arkansas; neither has a significant amount of wood from Arkansas as a very few products we produce meet