HJR41 (Bowling) Directs the Department of Revenue and the University of Kentucky's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources to submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission by December 1, 2022, detailing their recommendations for equitable property tax assessment procedures for well-managed forests. See background information posted below. House Joint Resolution (HJR) 41 passed the in House on March 11, 2022. It is now in the Senate - see "ACT" on item below We thank partners at KCC and KFIA for helping us track the progress of this measure through the legislature.
Summary Recent Background: HJR 41 was originally in the Committee on Committees and it moved to the Agricultural Committee during the week of March 7, 2022. As of March 11 it has been posted for passage in the House. KWOA Director, Jim Corum has championed this movement for a good 20 years and we are thrilled to see it moving forward. The goal is to achieve equitable taxation for well-managed forests in KY. We thank our partners at KFIA & KCC for helping us track the progress on this legislation. HJR 41 is A JOINT RESOLUTION directing the Department of Revenue and the University of Kentucky's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources to recommend equitable property tax assessment procedures for well-managed forests. KWOA Director, Jim Corum, has taken the initiative to work on this issue for many years and KWOA has been very supportive. Representative Adam Bowling has introduced HJR 41; you can read the resolution at https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/22rs/hjr41.html. We are thrilled that it is finally moving forward and we ENCOURAGE our supporters to contact their representative asking them to co-sponsor this resolution. You can ask "The Committee on Committees" to move this resolution along /get it out of committee and onto the floor. Find your representative at https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/house-of-representatives
Check out this easy way to contact your legislator: Leave a message: 1-800-372-7181. Operators accept a message that you dictate, no questions asked, from 7 am to 9 pm ET Monday to Thursday, and 7 am to 6 pm ET Friday, during sessions. You can leave a message for only one legislator, a list of legislators, all members of a committee you name, or all members of the House and/or Senate. Nominations sought for 2022:
Kentucky Delivered Log Price Report (3rd and 4th Qtrs. - 2021) contains "price average" regarding the log grade and can be found at the Kentucky Division of Forestry website link: Resource Utilization and Marketing - Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. You can also download the PDF shown below. ![]()
USDA Forest Service recently published the “Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2021 Tax Year” by Yanshu Li, Tamara L. Cushing, and Gregory E. Frey. Some of you may be familiar this with from previous versions. You can download the publication at https://go.usa.gov/xtreq or see PDF below. You may also want to attend the FORESTRY TAXATION WEBINARS Jan.18-Feb. 15! See the program and registration on our Events Page here. This is a new component of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) called EQIP-Conservation Incentive Contracts (EQIP-CIC). This program is of interest to woodland owners with adjacent grazing/cropland because the contracts will last five years and may serve as a steppingstone to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). See the program announcement as https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ky/newsroom/releases/?cid=NRCSEPRD1869221. For Fiscal Year 2022, Kentucky will offer EQIP-CIC Statewide to focus on improving soil health on cropland and to improve and expand terrestrial habitat on grazing lands. More information regarding priority resource concerns, eligible practices, and ranking criteria can be found in the Soil Heath and Terrestrial Habitat on Grazing Land fact sheets which may be found by clicking here and scrolling down to the “EQIP Conservation Incentive Contracts” section. Applications received by close of business on February 11, 2022, will be considered for fiscal year 2022 funding. To apply, producers should contact NRCS staff at their local USDA Service Center.
We are happy to report that FORESTRY continues to be a Kentucky Farm Bureau, KFB, LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY as follows:
"From the Woods Today,” a weekly webcast from the University of Kentucky Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, recently won national accolade. Presented by the National Woodland Owners Association and the National Association of Forest Resources Programs, the Individual Project Award focuses on exemplary educational programming responses to the 2020 pandemic.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (November 16, 2021) – The Kentucky Division of Forestry, a proud partner of the White Oak Initiative, today urged support for a newly released white oak conservation plan designed to bring sustainability to this highly important hardwood species.
The American Tree Farm System (ATFS) has announced the four regional finalists for the 2021 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year and our own Cliff Taylor is a finalist for the Northcentral Region. Cliff is long-standing KWOA and KWOF supporter, board member, and member-at-large. Son, Scott Taylor, is a current KWOA board member. Read more about the family and the ATFS awards here. Also see the full write up on Cliff Taylor's Family Farm on the About Tab - In Their Own Woods Section here
North Central OTFY: Clifton Taylor of Kentucky |