Some New Year’s Resolutions by Rich Merk

Maine Woodland Owners is committed to helping small woodland owners develop succession plans so they can know their life’s work will be passed on to someone who will continue their stewardship efforts. Here’s another topic to stimulate landowner efforts to develop and improve their plans.

Below are some ideas of how to get involved in your woodlot’s succession planning. Decide if you really want to go through the process of planning the future of you properties. Perhaps you may want to sell it or deed to someone without influencing how it will be treated once you no longer own it. If so, that’s OK. Act accordingly in your estate planning. If you want to ensure the land will be used and managed as you envision, consider the following initial steps:

›  Decide what you want to happen to the land.

›  Once you have a plan in mind, share it with your spouse and any other common owners to develop a supported plan for the future of the land.

›  Decide who you want to be involved once you are no longer actively managing the land.

›  Discuss informally with those involved what you have in mind and read their reactions.

›  Set up a meeting of all the players to see how feasible your plan is.

›  If feasible, establish an action plan and implement it.

›  Set a schedule of dates by which you want to accomplish all the steps outlined and follow the schedule.

Consider getting some help on how to do succession planning. The Internet is a great place to look for help. So is SWOAM. The start of a new calendar year is a great time to make plans for what you hope to accomplish in the New Year. I find the hard part is actually holding myself accountable and getting it done.