WVFA eNews Weekly

Industry News

The state Chamber of Commerce has long been an advocate for reasonable legal reform in West Virginia. As the legislative season approaches next month, they are strongly urging adoption of needed reforms critical to the Mountain State. The following is a list of a number of those reforms:

Comparative Fault - Additional legislation will be sought from the 2015 legislature to require a person or entity to be held liable only for his or her degree of fault as determined by a jury.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/wvf-nwl/articles/?aid=297680&issueID=40931 to view the full article online.

WVFA Events

WVFA Area Meetings

Area 1 - Wednesday, December 16, at the Copper House Grill in Fairmont. Time: 6:00 p.m. (social period) 7:00 p.m. (meal)
Area 2 - Monday, January 12, at Landes Ruritan Club Building (5 miles south of Petersburg route 220). Time: 6:00 p.m.
Area 3 - Thursday, December 18, at The Gandy Dancer Theater in Elkins. Time: 6:00 p.m. (social period) 6:30 p.m. (meal)
Area 4 - Tuesday, January 6, at Ryan’s Restaurant located at 1320 N. Eisenhower Dr. in Beckley. Time: 6:30 p.m.
Area 5 - Wednesday, December 17, at Buffalo Wild Wings located at 2501 Mountaineer Blvd. in Charleston. Time: 5:30 p.m.
Area 6 - Thursday, January 8, at the 4-H Camp facility across from Wood County/Interstate Fair. Time: 5:00 p.m. (exhibit viewing) 6:30 p.m. (meeting)

Education Opportunities

Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2014 Tax Year

Tax laws on timber transactions are very specialized knowledge that are not commonly known. Yet they are important to timber owners in terms of the ongoing cost of owning and managing timber, forest stewardship and compliance to the tax law. This USDA Forest Service bulletin reviews the major federal income tax laws to help forest owners in filing their 2014 income tax returns. The information presented here is current as of Sept. 30, 2014.

Visit http://www.timbertax.org/developments/TaxTips2014.pdf to view the full article online.

Forestry Facts

Rebirth of American Chestnut

It was nearly 400 years ago that the Pilgrims sat down with the Wampanoag to share the feast that is immortalized as Thanksgiving. We don’t know the exact menu. According to Kathleen Wall, foodways culinarian at Plimoth Plantation, venison, fowl and corn were documented by attendees. Beyond that, we can only speculate. I asked if we could speculate about chestnuts.

"We can’t say for sure, but the odds are pretty good," she says. "They’re right in season. Both cultures knew them and used them."

Then a fungus killed almost all of them. The chestnut blight was first spotted in 1904 and is believed to have arrived here in Asian chestnut trees, which have some resistance to it. American chestnuts have none, and all but a few hundred of the 3 to 4 billion trees were wiped out in just a couple of decades.

Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/wvf-nwl/articles/?aid=297693&issueID=40931 to view the full article online.

West Virginia Forestry Association