Steamboat Springs Preservation Ranch Takes the Gold

It always amazes me when someone takes the time to go above and beyond the call of duty to improve an already one-of-a-kind piece of property. The idea is to take some great place and make it even more over the top. That is definitely the case at Marabou, a Colorado ranch preservation community just outside Steamboat Springs that was recently honored at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.

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3rd Row or 5th Row Thinning?

Q: What’s the benefits of 3rd row versus 5th row thinning?

A:The purpose of most thinning operations are: remove suppressed, diseased trees and reduce stems/ac to encourage continued growth on the remaining stems.

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Lessons of the Barnett Shale

Although I don’t agree with the conclusion of this excellent article in Sunday’s Dallas Morning News – that the biggest mineral play in the U.S. has gone bust – there is a lot of good hands-on reporting by Elizabeth Souder and Marice Richtert to consider. Read it closely. The underlying theme of the piece – how thousands of landowners profited or spurned quick profits on their properties – is one that will be shared by millions of Americans for decades to come. Here’s why. Read more

U.S. Marshals Seize 695-Acre Texas Hill Country Ranch

A few years ago I started noticing all the classifieds that were advertising vehicles for sale. They had been seized by one branch or another of the federal government. Most of the time drugs were involved. Then, thanks to the mortgage meltdown, county sheriffs got busy selling foreclosed homes on the courthouse steps. But close to 700 acres in the Texas Hill Country on the block courtesy of the U.S. Marshals? Here’s the scoop. Read more

America’s Largest Landowner Bucks Down Market

On Monday, Plum Creek Timber Company (NYSE:PCL) reported a 17 percent increase in third quarter earnings to $69 million on revenues of $414 million compared to year-ago earnings of $59 million on revenues of $407 million. At 40 cents a share, the results matched the average analyst estimate, but given the downturn in the U.S. economy as a whole and the housing market in particular, it was an impressive performance for the Seattle-based timber REIT, which owns more than 8 million acres of timberlands in 18 states. Read more

Lowest Property Taxes in U.S.? Alabama

Alabamans pay on average just $477 per person in property and real taxes. That’s one of the many conclusions of this 64-page background paper from the Washington-based Tax Foundation that was released earlier this month. But you already knew that because you read this post at LandReport.com on Alabama’s low tax rates several months ago. Guess which state finished at the bottom of the list?

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The Great Plague Returns?

Trees, leaves, and changing colors are one of the glorious rites of fall. Yet the more wild places I visit from coast to coast, the more it becomes apparent that it’s not crisp autumn nights that is coloring these trees and thousands more on millions of acres of land. It’s a blight with all sorts of scientific names that landowners simply refer to as ”beetle kill.” Read more

Is Investing in Land Really This Easy?

More and more financial gurus are coming out in favor something we’ve known for years: rural land, especially in the current economic climate, is one of the best investments anyone can make. Read more

Field Report: The 2008 Presidential Campaign

With Sen. Barack Obama talking about raising long-term capital gains tax from the current rate of 15 percent, it should come as no surprise that some sellers might be a bit more motivated to unload property in the near future. “That’s the big problem—uncertainty from government and economy,” Charlie Israel of Outdoor Investment in Birmingham says. Read more

CAT Makes It 300 in a Row

In the midst of a mounting avalanche of bad economic news, I thought it worth singling out one company with strong ties to the land that continues to shine. Earlier this month, Caterpillar announced that it was paying a quarterly dividend for the 300th consecutive quarter. Keep in mind that 300 quarters = 75 years in a row. Here is the announcement from the corporate website. Read more

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