New Qualified Forest Reserve Act:

Finally! A tax break for woodland owners was signed by the governor in late September 2006. Senate Bill 912, tie-barred with several other bills, aims to reduce property taxes for private woodland owners and boost the timber economy across the state. Over 50% of the forested land in this state is owned by private individuals such as you and me. Unfortunately, this private landowner woodland resource is highly under-utilized for a number of reasons: lack of knowledge, fear of logger horror stories etc. Michigan’s timber industry is suffering from a lack of timber supply, particularly from private lands, making the prices of Michigan timber artificially high compared to neighboring states and other nations.
What are the rules?
- The land must be 20 acres or more, 80% or more of that land needs to be forested.
- The land must have an approved, by the DNR, Forest Management Plan. Furthermore, this plan must be followed actively. (You cannot receive the tax breaks if you do not touch your trees.)
- You do NOT have to allow access for public hunting or fishing.
-There is a penalty for withdrawing the land, on top of paying back all the extra taxes you have not paid when your land is in violation.
- There is a cap as to how much land can be enrolled each year.
-Local townships will be compensated for the loss in tax revenue from the State's general fund.
Before everyone races to the phone…
This is a very new law and the details have not been ironed out yet. The forms to enroll in the program do not exist yet, nor does the framework for proper enrollment. However, landowners can consider contacting the Conservation District to learn what a management plan costs and begin to work on putting one together with a resource professional. With a plan in place landowners can learn how to manage their timber resources properly and have one more thing out of the way when enrollment time comes. If an individual wishes to read the bills, they are on the Michigan State Legislature website, and the main bill is Senate Bill 912, “Qualified Forest Act”.
www.legislature.mi.gov

Other Forestry Information:
A potential timber buyer knocked on a landowner’s door and offered $27,000 for 92 sugar maple trees across 24 acres. Smartly, the landowner did not accept the first offer. Instead, the landowner, with the help of a forester, solicited bids from many different loggers for the original trees marked. (These were the same trees originally offered at $27,000.) When bids returned, the same logger who knocked on the door now all of a sudden offered $55,000 for the exact same trees! It’s amazing what a little competition can do to increase revenues from a timber harvest.

- I am certified to write Forest Stewardship Plans for landowners. These plans are critical in obtaining governmental cost-share for things like tree planting, wildlife habitat improvement, oak wilt and other disease treatments. Also with a stewardship plan in place, landowners will be ready for the Qualified Forest Reserve Act once it gets under way.
- I am also a Certified Tree Farm Inspector, and can help enroll landowners in this program if they desire. No tax breaks are present with these plans, but it could be on the horizon.
- As always, I help landowners with backyard conservation as well. I help with tree health and care, wildlife plantings, tree planting advice, and insect and disease problems.

Daniel can be reached at:
Office: 231-941-0960
Cell:231-883-9961
dschillinger@gtcd.org