The Business End of Forests

Life + LAND is a blog all about helping ladies get a hand on their land. It features articles, landowner tid-bits, women spotlights, and other resources. This blog was created by forester Danielle Atkins, co-founder of the Georgia Forestry Commission's Ladies for their Land program.

by Maria Janowiak

Looking to network and reconnect with Women and Their Woods members?

This workshop will be hosted in Blakely, Georgia, which was heavily impacted by Hurricane Michael this past fall.

Did you sell timber in 2018? Did you lose trees to a hurricane, fire, or other natural disaster? Do you know how to report these changes on your income tax return?

You're in luck. The USDA Forest Service has produced a tips sheet on Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2018 Tax Year. This quick guide has information on:

This past September marked the 5th Women and Their Woods Educational Retreat hosted by the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. The event this year was held at the Highlights Family Foundation's Workshop Facility in scenic Wayne County, PA.

Income Tax Deduction on Timber and Landscape Tree Loss from Casualty

Timber or landscape trees destroyed by the hurricane, fire, earthquake, ice, hail, tornado, and other storms are “casualty losses” that may allow the property owners to take a deduction on their federal income tax returns.

One of the first retreats was attended by a woman named Norma Dale Smith. Norma had had close ties to family land since she was a little girl, and now her grandchildren were getting involved. Inspired from the retreat, Norma gathered all her stories from the land, put them into book form, and published the book to give to her children and grandchildren. Even while she was learning more about managing the land, Norma was also continuing to forge a connection to the land for herself and her family. Norma’s books have been printed and shared with participants at the WOW workshops.

Success looks like...
She had lost her husband two years before. He was always the one to do the forest management stuff while she managed horses! Now she was left without a clue of how she should manage the forest. Her plan was to just - let it be. Accompanying her friend who invited her on an informal Oregon WOWNet hike changed everything and left her in tears of relief. After talking with women on the hike who are managing forests on their own, she said she felt like she could do it too. She instantly felt she had a support network and a huge barrier was lifted. It’s amazing what a walk in the woods, with peers, can do!

by Nia Becker, Clare Conservation District, Michigan

The Women and Their Woods Educational Retreat is an in-depth, fun, engaging, and thought-provoking workshop on caring for your woodlands now and into the future. No matter the size of your woodlands or if you’re not yet an owner, join us for four days and three nights of learning, networking, and applying new knowledge about good forest stewardship. Learn more about Women and Their Woods.

Location: Taste of India, 2570 Cleveland Ave., St. Paul (Roseville); 651-631-1222

Topics: MyMinnesotaWoods and UMN Master Woodland Owner Program: http://mwop.umn.edu/. The Master Woodland Owner program delivers a comprehensive training curriculum for private woodland owners interested in becoming better stewards of their woods. 

RSVP by October 16 to [email protected]