Posted: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:00 am
An Oregon State University program to help family forest landowners and farmers sort through both the human and legal issues of estate planning has been broadly successful in Oregon.
Robin Klemm, with OSU's Austin Family Business Program, said the university is doing a multi-state launch with the materials, including workbooks and DVDs, by tapping into about 100 family business programs in many other states. It's also being made available to libraries nationwide.
Numerous workshops using these materials have already been done in Oregon.
The goal is to help address a growing national crisis - aging landowners who become overwhelmed by family disputes and the complex issues of land transitions, which leads to vast amounts of forest and farm land lost to its traditional uses, some ending up as subdivisions or shopping malls.
"About 50 percent of forest landowners are 65 years old or more, and 25 percent are 75 or older," said Brad Withrow-Robinson, an extension forester with the OSU College of Forestry. "But only about 30 percent of family forest landowners have any kind of management plan, let alone a succession plan. These issues are simply not being addressed with the urgency they deserve."
Faced with hugely complex issues and expensive estate lawyers, many or most forest landowners opt for doing nothing, OSU experts say. And much of the problem, they say, is that even when families seek expert assistance, they are met with legal jargon and estate manipulation tools, not the more fundamental issue that they have three kids, only one is interested in the land, and the other two are quietly stewing. The first and often most difficult steps are personal, not legal.
The program has been a collaborative project that also included the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and members of local woodland organizations. Products are available at http://www.familybusinessonline. org/resources/workbooks.htm
Outreach specialists plan to develop materials more directly aimed at producers of annual crops, livestock, orchards or other types of lands.