Number: 1994-06
WHEREAS, nearly one-fourth of timberland in the United States is in non-industrial private holdings larger than 100 acres; and
WHEREAS, the use of economic incentives to motivate private parties to conserve important habitat on private lands is especially compelling when land ownership patterns and the distribution of endangered species in the United States are considered; and
WHEREAS, nearly 80% of U.S. lands (excluding Alaska) are privately owned or held by non-federal government entities and, roughly 95% of these lands are classified as rural and non-developed, some portion of which support habitat for biological resources at risk; and
WHEREAS, of the 728 currently listed federal endangered and threatened species, approximately 50% are found only on private lands and another 20% of these species have at least half of their known occurrences on private lands; and
WHEREAS, many family-owned forests are conservatively managed on long-term timber rotations with light and/or infrequent harvests, thus preserving desirable and valuable diverse late-succession habitat beneficial to wildlife; and
WHEREAS, the average age of private, nonindustrial forest landowners is approximately 60 years, and estate taxes must be paid, on average, once every 25 years; and
WHEREAS, the decedent’s forest land is often the major estate asset and must bear the brunt of an estate tax which can be more than fifty percent of the value of the estate; and
WHEREAS, in order to pay the estate tax, the heirs must often either heavily cut the timber or sell all or a portion of the land incurring capital gains tax liability without the possibility of averaging their income even though they were forced to receive a lifetime’s gain on their timber in one year; and
WHEREAS, sale of a portion or all of a managed forest tract often causes fragmentation of a larger forested area diminishing both the ability to manage the forest, and the value of wildlife habitat; and
WHEREAS, forced sales are not an optimal forest management practice and often result in lower income depending on timber prices, which can vary dramatically; and
WHEREAS, the company or individual which purchases the forest land from the heirs often heavily cut the timber in order to obtain a substantial and immediate return on the investment; and
WHEREAS, the actions taken by the heirs to pay the estate tax often disrupt the prior owners management plan; and
WHEREAS, the current estate tax laws are in conflict with wise forest management planning for a non-industrial, privately owned forest; and
WHEREAS, individuals or families who own forest lands are at an unfair disadvantage in relation to corporate forest owners because corporations are not forced to pay estate taxes; and
WHEREAS, uninterrupted forest management plans based on environmentally responsible principals instead of “crisis” management brought on by a death of the landowner will result in a more diverse, productive and valuable resource for the nation;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 4-6, 1994 in Austin, Texas, calls upon the U.S. Congress to reform the estate tax laws to eliminate this disincentive to responsible forest land management; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation urges the U.S. Congress to revise the estate tax laws to eliminate or minimize the negative environmental consequences on privately owned property; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation supports a change in the estate tax law to provide landowners or heirs, post mortem, who donate conservation easements on some or all of the lands subject to federal estate tax, to receive a reduction in estate taxes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation urges that a conservation plan to assure long-term sustainability of the forest resource be a part of any modification of the estate tax laws which would result in tax benefits to the heirs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation urges that, consistent with other sustainable conservation programs, heirs who receive estate tax benefits for conservation of private forest lands must remain in conformance with the required conservation obligations or be subject to loss of benefits and penalties; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation urges that revision to estate tax laws be linked, as appropriate, to the conservation of private forest lands to promote long-term sustainable forest management.