"Who Will Own the Forest? 5" Summit Announced

"Who Will Own the Forest? 5" Summit Announced

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Industrial forest ownership in the US has seen a dramatic shift. Over the last 25 years, most of the publicly held forest products companies in the U.S. have either sold all, or most of their forestlands, or separated ownership of their forest assets from their manufacturing activities.

Today, most of these forestlands are held either by Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) or Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS), on behalf of large institutional investors.  These investors have flocked to forestlands, seeking alternatives to the roller coaster equity market.  The trend is also developing on a more global scale, as cheaper land, faster growing species and emerging markets provide growing investment potential off shore.  

The implications and opportunities resulting from this forestland shift are wide-ranging and debatable, and have been the subject of our very popular Who Will Own the Forest? Summit series, held in Portland, Oregon since 2003.  Last year’s event attracted an unprecedented 375 attendees from the investment, conservation, and forestry sectors.  2009 is expected to bring new challenges and raise more questions.  How has the credit crunch affected land deals?  How will forestland values trend in this market? How should carbon, biofuels and other non-timber values impact forestland appraisals?  Where are investors going in search of more affordable properties? Will investors stay the course? We hope youll join us in September for this always interesting, ever-evolving discussion. 

The conference agenda is still under development but Early Registration is open at:  http://wfi.worldforestrycenter.org/wwotf5/reg.html.

Speaking opportunities: Please send an email to Sara Wu (swu@worldforestry.org) with a brief outline of the proposed topic and why it is important. 

Sponsorship opportunities: http://wfi.worldforestrycenter.org/wwotf5/sponsors.html

World Forestry Center
4033 SW Canyon Road
Portland, Oregon 97221

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