Be Woods Wise Bulletin Winter 2006

Welcome to the Be Woods Wise Bulletin,

a quarterly newsletter published by the Maine Forest Service (MFS) to connect Maine landowners with information about their forests, and with the resources people, new publications, events, etc. they need to make informed choices about their woodlands.

Be Woods Wise supports and encourages landowner stewardship. Stewardship means protecting and improving a whole range of resources recreation, wildlife habitat, woodland aesthetics, forest health, soil and water resources, wood or other forest products. Stewardship means meeting your needs as landowner while sustaining natural resources for the future.

Be Woods Wise and other MFS landowner assistance efforts are supported by grants through the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Stewardship Program, the USDA Forest Service’s Forest Land Enhancement Program, and other sources. _________________________________________________________________

Tree Growth Tax Law Time to recertify Your Land?

Tree Growth also known as the Maine Tree Growth Tax Program is Maine’s “current use” tax program for forestland. The program is administered by town assessors and the Maine Revenue Service’s Property Tax Division. “Current use” means that enrolled land is valued according to its ability to grow trees for commercial use, rather than according to its fair market value. This can result in a significantly reduced property tax bill for enrolled landowners

Tree Growth is a beneficial program for landowners who intend to manage their land for the long term for commercial forest products. In exchange for reduced property valuation, landowners commit to having a Forest Management Plan prepared, following the plan, and having a licensed forester certify that they are following the plan.

Maine Forest Service provides assistance and education about the Tree Growth Program, but does not have role in administration of the program.

Landowners should be aware of some very important requirements:

1) Land enrolled in Tree Growth has to be “recertified” every ten years.

- Could this be your year to update your plan and recertify?

2) In addition, when Tree Growth land is purchased, inherited, or otherwise acquired, new landowners must re-enroll within 1 year of the date of transfer. Landowners may not harvest timber until they have had a new forest management plan prepared or adopted a previous but still valid plan, and re-enrolled).

- Have you acquired or inherited forest land in recent years?

Why is this important? Because Tree Growth forest land that no longer complies with the program including failure to recertify or to re-enroll on time must be withdrawn from the program by the town (or Maine Revenue Services for land in unorganized territory), with potentially significant monetary penalties to the landowner. Withdrawal can occur even if you were not the owner at the time the land was first enrolled, because Tree Growth status “runs with the land” it does not end when land changes hands. There is NO requirement that the town notify you before withdrawing your land and assessing a penalty (though some do).

What should you do? If you have not tracked your forest management activities consistently over the years, you can avoid significant cost and aggravation by taking a few simple steps now:

• First, determine if your land is enrolled in Tree Growth (if you’re not sure).

• If yes, locate the Forest Management Plan and, if available, a copy of the most recent Tree Growth Application that was submitted. (Other property tax records are helpful.)

• Determine when the deadline for your re-enrollment or re-certification is.

• Contact your consulting forester, or the Maine Forest Service, for assistance in submitting required information to the town.

If you have questions about Tree Growth, Maine Forest Service will try to answer them, or refer you to Maine Revenue Services (which oversees the program). Please call your MFS District Forester or MFS Augusta at 1-800-367-0223.

April 1 st Tree Growth Deadline new enrollments for 2006

If you are considering enrolling forest land in Tree Growth for the first time, for the 2006 property tax year, the deadline for submitting the Tree Growth Application/Schedule for Classification to the town is April 1st, 2006. Information submitted after that date may not be considered until the 2007 tax year.

With your application, you must submit

• A map of the parcel identifying the acres you are enrolling

• A statement that you have completed and are following a Forest Management and Harvest Plan.

In practice that means that landowners should contact a consulting forester well in advance of the April 1st deadline for assistance in preparing a plan and submitting the documentation to the town. Due to their typical workloads, foresters may not be able to assist landowners who wait until the final weeks before the deadline.

For more information about the Tree Growth Program, please contact MFS.

NEW PUBLICATIONS AND SOURCES

Forest taxation:

Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2005 Tax Year. This brief information sheet, published by USDA Forest Service, provides an overview of essential information and changes.

Federal Income Tax on Timber: A Key to Your Most Frequently Asked Questions. A 23-page document outlining some of the most common situations and questions faced by landowners. Also from the USDA Forest Service.

Landowner resources:

WoodsWISE cost-share Program Forest Stewardship Management Plans

EVENTS

Maine has 75+ native tree species and an estimated 21.6 billion trees* the most abundant species are:

Balsam fir (35% of all trees)

Red maple (12%)

Red spruce (9%)

Paper/white birch (6%)

Yellow birch (4%)

Beech (4%)

Popple/Aspen (4%)

Northern white cedar (4%)

Sugar maple (3%)

Eastern hemlock (3%)

Maine’s state tree, the Eastern White Pine, has about 2% of the total trees of the state.

*Source:

Forests of Maine 2003

(Table A6: Number of live trees 1.0+ inches dbh on forestland).