Ties To The Land

A facilitated workshop on succession planning to help keep family forests and farms in the family will be held on February 11, from 9 am to 4:30 pm at the Petersburgh Veteran’s Memorial Community Center, 71 Main Street, Petersburgh.
Few challenges that family forestland owners, farmers, ranchers and other land-based family businesses face are more important than the issue of passing the land and its responsibilities on to the next generation. Many small landowners want to preserve their family lands but don’t know how to involve family members in ownership and operation of their land.
On February 11, the Cornell Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the Agricultural Stewardship Association, the Rensselaer Land Trust and the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, will present a succession planning, facilitated workshop. Succession Planning – the human side of Estate Planning – focuses on ways to maintain family ties to the land from generation to generation, building awareness of key challenges facing family businesses and motivating families to address those challenges. This workshop is a mix of DVD presentations, practical exercises and expert panel discussions and Q&A sessions to help families develop the techniques needed to address tough issues. Topics covered will also be relevant to professionals working with landowner families.
This one day workshop is supported by a DVD featuring presentations by Clint Bentz, CPA at Boldt Carlisle & Smith and Chairman of the American Tree Farm System, and Mark Green, Director of the Austin Family Business Program at Oregon State University, with live classroom activities conducted by facilitator Dr. Shorna Broussard Allred.
During the first half of the day participants will gain information about the basics of succession planning and overcoming communications issues and will learn about the elements and structure of a succession plan.
After lunch, the workshop focuses on specific tools that can be used in implementing a succession plan and will include presentations and discussions with local experts.
The workshop coaches families in developing the techniques and communications skills they need to address the tough issues and decide the future of their land.
Topics
• Key legacy planning challenges and tools to deal with them
• Determining your heirs’ interest
• Clarifying your values and goals
• Steps to succession planning
• Organizing effective family meetings
• Legal and financial instruments
Presenters
• John Lavelle, CPA, LL.M., will be speaking as a tax attorney and discussing estate planning as it relates to tax issues and gifting.
• Christine Young of the Rensselaer Land Trust and Renee Bouplon/Chris Krahling of the Agricultural Stewardship Association will be discussing and answering your questions about the role of land management and land conservation such as conservation easements in estate planning.
• Jim Bonesteel of the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance will be explaining and taking questions on the Forest Service’s Forestry Legacy Program.
• Sydney and Evon Antonio, local landowners, will be sharing their family’s experience with estate planning.
We encourage multiple family members and generations to attend. Your registration fee includes the Ties to the Land workbook and companion DVD, which are designed to help families continue to improve and direct their communications at home. More information about succession planning is available on the Ties to the Land website, http://tiestotheland.org/.
The workshop fee and registration is $40 per person, $10 per each additional family member. The fee includes refreshments, lunch and one copy per family of the workbook and DVD, Ties to the Land: Your Family Forest Heritage. Additional copies will be available at the workshop or online at the website. You will also receive additional Succession Planning resources and materials.
Participants ought to attend the full day. To register by credit card, please visit https://cornell.qualtrics.com/.
For questions, or if you have trouble registering, please call or email Maureen Mullen, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, at 607-254-6556, mlm394@cornell.edu.