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Succession Planning for Washington’s Forest Landowners

Andrew Perleberg

Summary

A variation of the award-winning “Ties to the Land” succession planning curriculum was delivered to 200 rural families transitioning forestland located in traditionally underserved communities throughout Washington State. Risk management education topics included financial risk regarding family living expenses; legal risk related to inheritance laws; and human risk regarding health and well-being, family and business relationships, and transition planning. Evaluations indicate that 94% of participants learned communication strategies for conveying information about land inputs and costs, tree farm overhead, and were able to recognize and act on financial impacts of “what if” scenarios. Skills learned have helped mitigate liability and other legal risks and aided with identifying estate planning tools. Finally, families developed understanding for communicating ownership desires for the family land, have organized family ownership business structures, and have cultivated leadership strengths that are accomplishing management objectives for achieving the family’s goals.

Details

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