COLUMN
Help On Way For
Small-Forest Owners
By MIKE ZAGATA • Hometown Oneonta & The Freeman's Journal
New York’s 19 million acres of forests provide wood-fiber for the state’s $16 billion wood products industry – it’s larger than Maine’s, but we don’t often think of New York as being a leader in wood products.
Our forests also provide habitats for wildlife, clean air, clean water, Carbon sequestration and aesthetic enjoyment. In fact, interest in wildlife is the number one reason people own forest lands, and healthy, managed young forests sequester more carbon that older, mature forests.
The question then becomes, what do the people who own those forests that provide all these societal values get in return for properly stewarding them. The answer is simple – a high property-tax bill.
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