2010 Timberland Investment World Summit Oct. 27-29

The increasing popularity of timberland as an investment class is drawing individual landowners, chief investment officers, and many more to IQPC’s 8th Timberland Investment World Summit on October 27-29 at The Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel in New York City. Among the leading timber experts scheduled to speak are Gerhard Dieterle (World Bank), Sue Ryan Goodman (APG Asset Manager US), Gregory Janetos (Global Carbon Group), and Joel Shapiro (Timbervest).

Session topics include the future of a more mature, investor-savvy market, return-risk ratio against other asset classes, risk reduction, global updates, timber taxes, and advanced contract considerations.

Land Report subscribers receive a 20 discount off of standard all-access pricing when registering with the code TWTLR4.

Register at www.timberlandworldsummit.com or by calling 212-885-2738. View the program brochure for more information and visit the download center for additional timber resources and speaker interviews.

IP to Sell 163,000 Acres for $200 Million

International Paper (IP) will sell 163,000 acres in the Southeast for a minimum of $200 million to an affiliate of Rock Creek Capital, a Jacksonville-based asset management firm that invests in unique, resource-rich land. According to wire reports, IP will receive a minimum $160 million when the deal closes later this quarter. It will receive the balance, plus interest, within three years. The company will also receive 20% of the net profit generated from the land after the Rock Creek affiliate achieves “certain financial returns.”

Foreign Investors Own Major Stake in Maine

Foreign investors own an interest in 21.2 million acres of U.S. forest and farmland, an amount that equates to just under 1 percent of all the land in the U.S. Every one of the 50 states as well as Puerto Rico has foreign ownership, but far and away the largest concentration was in Maine with 3,323,846 acres (16 percent of the national total). Forest and timberland accounted for more than 3 million of those acres with Canadian companies the leading landowners.

The figures were compiled by the Farm Service Agency from filings required by the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 and are available in this handy 178-page report.

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

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.

Read more

Sold! Oregon’s 42,500-Acre Ochoco Ranch

The heavily timbered Ochoco Ranch, located in Central Oregon just 30 minutes from the red hot market in and around Bend, sold last week to a buyer from Texas who first saw the property at the website of the listing broker, Mason & Morse. Originally listed in 2007 for $48.5 million ($1,143 per acre), the price was subsequently lowered to $42.5 million ($1,000 per acre).

“We listed the Ochoco in April 2007, so it took about 18 months for it to sell,” said Robb Van Pelt, Managing Broker for Mason & Morse Ranch Company. “Properties of this caliber are few and far between, so 18 [months] to two years is the norm. Sell it too quickly, and you know you underpriced it.”

Located in Crook County, Ochoco Ranch features 35 miles of spring fed creeks and 65 mapped springs. It sits adjacent to the Ochoco National Forest and the Lookout Mountain Roadless Management Area along its eastern border and abuts private ranches on the other sides. In addition to the deeded acreage, Ochoco Ranch controls the cutting rights on an adjoining 3,111+/- of private land under a timber for grass trade use agreement.

According to the Mason & Morse website, the property included 42,428 acres of timbered high country in one contiguous block. Distinctive elements include: no public access; a high percentage of forested lands; smooth, gently rolling terrain with deep soils allowing the ranch to be very usable and productive; very secure, easily controlled and inexpensive to operate.

Among the possible uses for the property were:

1) A private and secure retreat for family/business recreation purposes, possibly incorporating a conservation strategy for tax savings benefit.

2) A buy-and-hold strategy allowing the value of the land and timber to continue growing.

3) Splitting the property into 4 to 10 smaller ranch properties for resale.

4) Developing a small area into a clustered development with “common access” to keep the remainder a large, open, natural property protected by a conservation easement.

5) A resort overlay designation for a world class destination involving mountain recreation.

 

In Focus: The Forest Landowners Association

Created in 1941, the Forest Landowners Association (FLA) is a proactive, progressive, grassroots organization of timberland owners – large and small – that owns and operates more than 37 million acres of timberland in 47 states. It is the only organization created for the specific purpose of speaking for timberland owners at the local, regional and national level. Read more

Maine Goes Public on 10 Million Acres

The last and largest contiguous block of forestland east of the Mississippi – more than 10 million acres – is up for grabs … at least as far as public policy goes. Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission is now holding public workshops, which will soon be followed by public hearings, which will then be used to develop a Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the Pine Tree State. Get ready. Read more

Market Report: New England Timberland

Regional Spotlight: New England Timberland
 
Looking to get into the New England timberland market? Check out out our market report inside. Read more