Recent Articles

"How much Forestry Commission do you want, and how much are you willing to pay for it?"

Buckley Bridges
December 21, 2011 16:35

Today, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette ran a front-page piece entitled, "Beebe discouraged tax-rise meeting, forester says."  With due respect to the editor, I think the real eye-grabber is the quote from State Forester John Shannon, which I have used as the title of this blog...

Know Your Role: Advocacy vs. Expertise

Buckley Bridges
May 27, 2011 19:25

 Having only recently highlighted an Arkansas case proving the value of experts, I now have to follow up with this caveat post.  Last month, Judge Cohen of the United States Tax Court  issued an opinion that should serve as a an example to trial lawyers and trial...

"Dollarable" Conservation: Valuing Carbon

Buckley Bridges
March 15, 2011 16:42

John Muir, who (among other things) was instrumental in the nascent U.S. National Park movement, has been quoted as saying, "Nothing dollarable is safe."  With due respect, perhaps Mr. Muir had it wrong.  Perhaps the inverse is true: Only the dollarable is safe....

The Issue Is, What Are Trees?

Buckley Bridges
February 25, 2011 18:55

Some readers familiar with the law may remember the Frigaliment case (a.k.a. "The Chicken Case).  I cannot summarize the case any better than Judge Friendly did when he wrote: "The issue is, what is chicken?"  Frigaliment Importing Co. v. B. N. S. Int'l Sales Corp., 190 F....

Proposed National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule Highlights Perennial Problem

Buckley Bridges
February 18, 2011 22:52

 The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service recently published a proposed planning rule to update procedures that have been in place for almost thirty years.  For coverage from the Denver Post, click here and here.  For a Washington Post article, click here.  The...

Timber Value in the Courtroom

Buckley Bridges
February 04, 2011 15:38

The Arkansas Supreme Court recently published a road map for proving damages to timber and land with its opinion in Pope v. Overton. The basic facts are these: The Popes' 31.5 acres of property had been for sale $129,000.  During the time it was up for sale, Overton, the Popes' neighbor,...

Is NPDES Permitting Coming to a Logging Road Near You?

Buckley Bridges
December 09, 2010 21:43

If you want to cut timber, you often have to cut roads first.  Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit may have made that first step a little bit more difficult ...  In Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown (available here and hereafter referred to as...

Consumer Protection in Firewood Sales

Buckley Bridges
November 15, 2010 20:36

As we are entering the cooler months of the year, a blog post by forester Steve Nix piqued my curiosity.  Nix wrote that "In many states firewood transaction laws have been enabled to protect the purchaser from being ripped off when purchasing fuel."  If you're like...

Forest + Pasture = Silvopasture!

Buckley Bridges
October 05, 2010 13:16

Even though the day-to-day value of timber is tied to immediate market conditions (see, e.g., the stumbling housing market), we all know that timber is a long-term investment.  That's a good thing.  Unless, of course, you've really been hit hard by the recent recession, or you just prefer...

In case you missed it: Biomass Crop Assistance Program

Buckley Bridges
September 13, 2010 13:36

From June 2009 to February 2010, the USDA / FSA implemented the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) to support the establishment of eligible crops for bioenergy conversion and to assist agricultural and forest land owners and operators with the collection, harvest, storage, and...