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Volume 7 No. 3 - February 1, 2012 ADECA Loan to Reduce Westervelt Energy Costs The Westervelt Company will receive a $1.4 million loan from the  Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) to use to reduce energy costs at its Tuscaloosa headquarters and at the company's Moundville sawmill by installing more energy efficient lighting and energy-management controls.Read more... Tree Distribution Date Set for February  6thThe Alabama Tree Recovery Campaign will kick off the distribution of thousands of trees to homeowners and residents at an event on Monday, February 6, at 10:30 a.m. in Tuscaloosa at 101 15th Street East (the former location of Mike and Ed's Barbeque). Initial distribution of 30,000 trees will go to 16 communities across north Alabama. Read AFC Media Advisory... It's Time to Get Off the Bench and Into the Game  Whether we like it or not, politics affects everything we do and is, therefore, too important to be left untended in the hands of politicians.Read more... SFPA Sets EXPO 2012 for June 6-7 The Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) h  as announced that dates and the venue for Expo 2013 are set. The 32nd Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition will be held June 6-7 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.Read more... Legal Considerations for Forest Landowners to be Feature of 2012 Mid-Winter Meeting The AFA will feature another of the legal seminars designed to help  landowners pump up their knowledge of how their ownership of land fits into the mix of state and federal laws and regulations.Subjects covered will include Mineral Rights, an update on the Lynch Lawsuit, how to protect your timebr assets, an environmental update and many more interesting topics. If you want to know where you stand with the law, you need to attend this important seminar! PHOTO: Tom Eden (right) will talk about the "Top 10 Employment Law Landmines in 2012" at AFA legal seminar. Read more and Register... Southeastern Society of American Foresters Annual Meeting Forest markets, economics, taxation and policy will be topics of the 2012 Southeastern SAF Meeting entitled, "After the Recession: Finding Our Way Out of the Woods," to be held February 19-21,2012 at Oceanside Inn and Suites on Georgia's Jekyll Island. SAF members, other forestry professionals, forest landowners and anyone interested in today's top forestry issues are invited to attend. Seven hours of Continuing Forestry Education credits are available. To see the meeting program and register, visit www.sesaf.org or contact the Southeastern SAF office at sesafbusmgr@windstream.net. Contact: Sharon Dolliver at 478.628.1196, or sesafbusmgr@windstream.net. Come on in Fellows, the Water's Fine! Time to Sign Up NOW For AFA Mid-Winter Meeting 2012, February 24-26, 2012,  at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa.Program sessions will include a Continuing Legal Education seminar worth 6 CLE credits, and great program sessions on all three days that run the gamut of interesting subjects that you won't want to miss. Those who attend all of the program sessions, the 24th-26th can receive a total of 12 CFE/PLM credits. For the 2012 AFA Mid-Winter flyer/registration documents, click here. Make your hotel reservations NOW. Hotel room block expires Feb. 2. To make your room reservations CALL the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa at (800) 367-1271 and request the special AFA room rate.
Obama Kills Pipeline and Thousands of Jobs By rejecting the Keystone XL oil pipeline, President Obama did more than just pander to environmentalists. he shredded attempts by his handlers to cast him as a pragmatic and reasonable man who can appeal to independent voters. Read more... CEI: "Congress Should Override Pipeline Ruling" Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) urges the U.S. House of Representatives to override President Obama's recent decision not to move ahead with the Keystone XL Pipeline construction. Read more... Republicans: Obama has Given up Doing his Job "Trying desperately to save his job, Barack Obama has given up on actually doing his job. He's courting wealthy donors for campaign cash. He's crisscrossing the country rallying disaffected voters. And he's running disingenous ads in five battleground states," says Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Read more... Forisk Hosts Applied Forest Finance Seminar Forisk Consulting will be hosting an Applied Forest Finance Seminar at the Emory Conference Center Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia, on February 9, 2012 Read more... Experts Say Don't Panic About Global Warming Wall Street Journal points out that, "a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed. Read more... Rep. Bachus Reports Money for Disaster  ReliefWASHINGTON -- Alabama will receive $55 million in federal disaster relief funding to help achieve long-term recovery, restore housing and infrastructure, and promote economic revitalization after the April 27 tornado outbreak, U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, announced recently. Read more... FROM THE EVP: EPA IS Killing Rural Industries Over the past year, EPA has been targeting new regulations on nuisance dust and other particulate matter (PM) standards which would impact logging and farming activities. Referred to as “Farm Dust” by many, this material includes particles from 2.5 to 10 micrometers in diameter – smaller than a human hair. In forestry operations, this material is typically generated from skidding wood along dry skid trails, hauling on dusty gravel roads and prescribed burning activities. While these rules will affect forestry operations, they will likely have an even greater impact on agriculture. As an example, in 2009 a cattle operation in Arizona spent $400,000 to comply with current farm dust standards – over $1,000 per day to reduce dust. As ludicrous as this may sound, EPA continues to ratchet standards down tighter and tighter…often to the point of being technologically unattainable…in the name of protecting public health. The reality is – Current Air Standards Are Working! Consider the following:
BoilerMACT rules are yet another example of EPA pushing the emission limits down on obscure pollutants that are currently emitted at levels previously considered by EPA as inconsequential. In discussions with several mill managers, there is still a question whether these levels can actually be achieved with current technology. But what they are certain of is that the cost to comply will be high. One estimated cost of compliance at his mill would exceed $60 million. Once again, this brings me to the inevitable conclusion – EPA is the single greatest threat to the health of Alabama’s forest today! When Alabama mills are threatened, markets for wood are threatened. If we lose markets, we lose incentives for landowners to actively manage their forests. If landowners fail to actively manage their forests, they will ultimately reach the point where they can no longer provide many of the benefits our society has come to depend upon from healthy forests. Currently, we find ourselves fighting EPA on a regulation by regulation basis, in some cases expending enormous energy and resources to slow down just one. The only way to stop the flood of regulations is to change the Administrator. The only way to change the Administrator is to change the person that appoints the Administrator. In November, we’ll have the chance to do just that. Although I’m disappointed by the circular firing squad that seems to have developed among the Republican presidential candidates, this one thing I’m sure of…whoever survives the fight and receives the nomination will be a vast improvement. IF WE ARE TO SURVIVE, WE MUST HAVE CHANGE!  As Always… Thanks For Your Support! |
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Tel: (334) 481-2129
Fax: (334) 262-1258 Email: sduvall@alaforestry.org |
