Louisiana Forestry Association

The mission of the Louisiana Forestry Association is to promote the health and productivity of Louisiana's forests for present and future generations through the practice of Sustainable Forestry.

The Louisiana Forestry Association was formed in 1947 to foster the practice of forestry, to rebuild the state's cut-over lands, and to build a healthy forest industry. Now, 50 years later, forests cover 48% of the state's land area and forestry is the second largest manufacturing employer in Louisiana. That is the true Louisiana success story.

The Louisiana Forestry Association today is a statewide, private, nonprofit association made up of more than 3,500 members, mostly large and small landowners along with foresters, employees of forest products industries, wood suppliers , loggers and related industries.

Pellet Mill at Port of Baton Rouge
Jindal attends groundbreaking
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Gov. Bobby Jindal was on hand for the ground breaking for Point Bio Energy, a wood pellet plant to be constructed at the Port of Baton Rouge.

Bill New, CEO of the company, said the construction will begin soon and be completed by the 4th Quarter of 2011.

The wood pellets are used in European power plants as mandated by laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The $124 million plant will produce 450,000 tons of pellets and use 100 truckloads of wood per day.
KPAQ Papermill begins operations
KPAQ Industries LLC will start production at its newly acquired St. Francisville pulp and papermill in mid-July.

KPAQ's parent company, Amzak Capital Management, purchased the mill in April, 2010. The new business will be focused on packaging grades, initially using one of the four paper machines.

Wood supply for the operation comes from the forests of southwest Mississippi and southeast Louisiana. Gloster Chips in Gloster, Miss. is a major chip supplier. Allen Byrd is CEO of the new company which employs about 200 people.
No new FPP applications at this time

The Office of Forestry has stopped taking applications at this time for the Forestry Productivity Program (FPP) as they work down the backlog of applications and move to a new process.

Those who already have applications in the OOF should contact Pat Aronstein in Baton Rouge (225-925-4500) and let him know whether your application is still active or not.

BMP Report Out
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The latest survey of compliance on Best Management Practices in the state shows that only about 74% of logging sites comply with the suggested practices. The last survey showed a 96% compliance rate. To read the report - Forestry Best Management Practice -2009
Made in Louisiana!
Forestry Impact drops to $2.5 billion
Trees are the #1 Crop in Louisiana--grown in family forests throughout the state. In 2009, forestry had a $2.5 billion impact on our state economy and about 13,000 people held good manufacturing jobs in this field.

But the economy and the slowdown in building has hurt this valuable enterprise. In fact the forestry economic impact declined by a billion dollars. To learn more about the products made (and certified sustainable!) in this state... read more (pdf)...
2010 La. Forest Facts
Learn more about La. Forestry
Friday, April 17, 2009
Get the latest statistics on Louisiana forestry -- a boon to the state's economy and the family forest landowners in this state. read more (pdf)...
LFA Convention Aug. 31 - Sept. 2
Registration forms for the LFA annual convention are due to be mailed the week of June14. Sign up early for the convention which will be in Bossier City at Diamond Jacks Hotel.

Meiners named to La. Forestry Commission
Tina Meiners of Lake Charles has been named to the Louisiana Forestry Commission–the first woman to be named to the board. She is a forester with Forest Capital Partners and a member of the LFA board of directors. She replaced longtime commissioner Wayne Hagan.

Severance taxes set for 2010

Commission draws up 2010 schedule
The Louisiana Forestry Commission and the Louisiana Tax Commission set stumpage values to be used for timber severance tax computations. These values are in effect for January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010.

The sawtimber and chip-n-saw regular severance tax rate is 2 1/4 percent of the sawtimber stumpage value. The pulpwood regular severance tax rate is 5 percent of the stumpage value.

Product	2010 Stumpage Value	Severance Tax
Pine sawtimber	$271.55/mbf$33.94/ton	$6.11/mbf$.76/ton
Hdwd sawtimber	$300.99/mbf $31.68/ton	$6.77/mbf $.71/ton
Chip-n-saw	$74.22/cord $27.49/ton	$1.67/cord $.62/ton
Pine pulpwood	$25.59/cord $9.66/ton	$1.28/cord $.48/ton
Hdwd pulpwood	$23.76/cord $8.34/ton	$1.19/cord $.42/ton

Sales Tax Exemption for Logging Equipment

New documents needed - Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Loggers must apply to Louisiana Department of Revenue for Certification as a Manufacturer to claim 100% exclusion from state sales tax on purchases of equipment. Loggers must have the current form; the old document will not be accepted.

Loggers and forest products industry need to complete the Application for Certification as a Manufacturer for the purpose of Sales/Use Tax Exclusion from the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Beginning October 1, 2009, Department of Revenue requires the equipment seller to hold a copy of this certificate from the purchaser before granting any state sales tax exemption. Local sales taxes may still be collected. The equipment seller could be liable for the sales tax if he can’t produce a copy of the buyer’s Exemption Certificate.

Loggers and forest products industry can access the form by going to www.rev.state.la.us, click Tax Forms, click Sales Tax under Business, click 2010, click Exemption Certificates under PDF Documents, find R- 1070 and click Forms and Instructions. (Or use this link: Applications for Exemption)

Logging and forest industry equipment are completely exempt from state sales tax with the proper certification certificate from the Department of Revenue.

Be sure you have this certificate before you try buying a piece of equipment

Jindal signs tax credit for loggers, mills

Will begin July 1, 2010

Loggers and mill operators can exclude one cent from the state sales tax on parts and labor as of July 1.

Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the tax credit bill pushed by the La. Logging Council, La. Forestry Association and the La. Pulp and Paper Association. The bill will phase in a 4-cent state sales tax exemption for wood-using mills and loggers on repairs and parts.

A logger who buys a $20,000 transmission will be able to exclude one penny of the state sales tax in July 2010 -- a $200 saving. The exemption moves to 2 cents in 201l, 3 cents in 2012 and is removed entirely in 2013.

To receive the exemption loggers must fill out the same paperwork as they do for the equipment exemption (see above). The form to look for Under Applications for Exemptions is R-1070 and there will be special instructions for the Dept. of Revenue for this new program. The website has both the form and instructions to download. For questions or help call the Dept. of Revenue at (225) 219-7462.

"We need this help for our paper mills, our solid wood products facilities and our loggers," said Vandersteen.