Potential for Massive Wildfires Next Summer in the West

The great plague that is the pine beetle infestation has now destroyed millions of acres of timber across the western U.S. and into Canada. The extent of this calamity is so enormous that last month we covered the devastation at this website. This week Jim Robbins at The New York Times picked up the storyline and filed his own excellent report about the disappearing forest. Here are some of his key observations: Read more

Federal Reserve Bullish on Great Plains

Farmland in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and parts of New Mexico jumped 20 percent in the third quarter of 2008, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City this week. Here are some of the reasons why. Read more

Timberland Outperforms the S&P 500?

That’s one of the conclusions from this report that ran online at Forbes.com a few weeks ago titled Cut Down Portfolio Risk With Timber. I had fully expected the author, Robert Stammers, to be a shill for an organization tied to the timber industry. Turns out I was wrong. He’s a CFA, a quant, who specializes in providing strategic planning and analysis for business owners and private investors. What does he have to say about investing in timber? It’s quite simple. Read more

Sold! Montana’s 15,800-acre Bar Diamond Ranch

There seems to be no sign of an economic fallout in Montana’s still strong recreational land market. That’s the takeaway from the Billings Gazette, which reports that the 15,800-acre Bar Diamond Ranch has closed. Read more

Sales Break $50 Million Mark at Midwest Auction

These days investing in the stock market is not for the faint of heart, and in markets from coast to coast thousands of developer-owned condos now sit vacant. But when it comes to land, there’s no shortage of motivated buyers. That’s the takeaway from a three-day auction of hunting and recreational tracts that grossed more than $50 million earlier this month. Read more

Slowdown Forecast for Texas Land

Ag economists at Texas A&M are predicting that the red-hot Texas land market will lose its sizzle next year. Since 2003, land prices have increased an average of 14.5 percent annually, and with the median price statewide approximately $2,300 per acre, that means the average price would jump to $4,600 per acre by 2013. According to the Aggies, that’s not going to happen. Here’s why: Read more

Tiger Woods Debuts His First U.S. Course in North Carolina

When it comes to golf course design, the Big Three has now become the Big Four. Developers looking to entice buyers with courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, and Robert Trent Jones can now add Tiger Woods to the list of potential designers. Read more

Florida Renegotiates Largest U.S. Land Purchase of 2008

The $1.75 billion purchase by the state of Florida of 187,000 acres in the Everglades belonging to U.S. Sugar has been renegotiated and substantially bettered. The state will no longer take title to the company’s high-tech mill, its citrus processing plant, or its rail lines. The number of acres has also been decreased by 6,000 to 181,000. Net savings? A whopping $400+ million. Read more

Yellowstone Club Files for Bankruptcy

The world’s only private ski and golf community has sought bankruptcy protection. The Yellowstone Club, an exclusive 13,400-acre retreat in Montana’s Gallatin Mountains whose members include Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and former vice president Dan Quayle, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal bankruptcy court yesterday. Read more

Amendment 4 Approved by Floridians

Voters in Florida overwhelmingly approved Amendment 4, The Florida Conservation Land Amendment, a measure that will lower property taxes on lands set aside for conservation. Amendment 4, which was  supported by Florida Governor Charlie Crist, was approved by 68.4 percent of Florida voters. A 60 percent majority was required. Read more

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