Applied Forest Finance Class
Save the Date! The next Applied Forest Finance Class will take place on April 3, 2025.
The 2024 Applied Forest Finance Class webinar recording and materials are available for purchase ($500). Please contact Pamela Smith at psmith@forisk.com to order. This class is taught live once per year. Please note, we cannot offer continuing education credits for watching the recording.
This class details the step-by-step financial analysis required to answer key investment and forest management questions. Attendees will learn how to identify, value, and rank timber and forestry investments. This one-day course is ideal for forestry consultants and investment analysts, timberland owners and investors, and anyone else who needs to understand the identification, valuation, and ranking of timber-dependent and forest-related investments.
Attendees engage with the instructor throughout the day through polls, case studies, and Q&A. In addition, Forisk will make the recording available afterwards for attendees who were unable to attend live, or who want to re-watch any sections. Please note, only people who attend the live webinar in its entirety are eligible to receive Continuing Education Credits.
2024 Event Details
- Date: Thursday, March 14, 2024
- Time: 10am – 5pm (Eastern)
- Instructor: Brooks Mendell, President & CEO of Forisk Consulting
- Location: Live Zoom Webinar with participant Q&A throughout the day
- Course Agenda: Click here to view the agenda
- Continuing Ed: Applications will be submitted for 6.0 hours of CE credits for CFE (Forestry), GA CLE / MTH (Logger / Georgia Master Timber Harvester), and Georgia Real Estate/Appraisal. Continuing education credit is only available for people who attend the live webinar in its entirety.
2024 Registration Fees
Companies that subscribe to the Forisk Research Quarterly (FRQ), the Wood Fiber Review, the Forisk Market Bulletin, or Forisk’s Mill Capacity Database can receive 10% off their employees’ registration fees! Contact Pamela Smith (psmith@forisk.com) for the promo code prior to registering!
- Early Registration (until Feb. 29th): $500
- Late Registration (after Feb 29th): $580
- Registration Closes on Wednesday, March 13th
- 10% Discount available for firms that subscribe to Forisk’s research
- Email psmith@forisk.com for the promo code
Course Materials
Attendees receive a physical copy of the Forest Finance Simplified handbook and the Aunt Fanny Learns Forestry book, as well as electronic reference materials and Excel models for reinforcing and applying the concepts learned during the course. Forisk will send you a packet of course materials prior to the webinar.
This class directly addresses the following key forest finance topics:
- Common mistakes and how to correct them
- Financial criteria: ranking investment options
- Discount rates: estimating risk
- Testing for how forest carbon affects management and returns
- Marginal analysis: when does forest management pay?
- Case study: when do we clearcut for pulpwood versus manage for sawtimber?
- Case study: maximizing financial returns from existing stands
Who Should Attend?
Forestry consultants and investment analysts, timberland owners and investors, and anyone else who needs to understand the identification, valuation, and ranking of timber-dependent and forest-related investments.
Course Outline
- Key concepts and unique attributes of forest finance
- Time value of money
- Nominal vs. real rates
- Common mistakes and how to correct them
- Faustmann and bare land value
- Timberland investment vehicles; forest carbon markets
- Financial criteria: ranking investment options
- Discount rates: estimating risk
- Marginal analysis: when does forest management pay?
- Testing for how forest carbon affects management and returns
- Case study: when do we clearcut for pulpwood versus manage for sawtimber?
- Case study: maximizing financial returns from existing stands
Feedback from previous “Applied Forest Finance” participants:
The content struck a good balance between providing instruction on basic valuation/finance calculations and the more technical forest/BLV modeling. Brooks’ presentation style and pace were also great. He’s a talented public speaker (never lost steam or enthusiasm throughout a long presentation) and able to present very complex concepts in a digestible format. I also liked the “live” whiteboarding of number lines and formulas. Very engaging. Finally, the “take away” tools are terrific – the workbooks with formulas, the books. Thank you.
I’ve taken this course a number of times now, and I’m always appreciative of the additions and updates that have been made over the years to keep the class applicable to today’s business environment. The addition of carbon was a highlight for me this year [2021]. I also liked the virtual format. I had no connectivity or tech issues and I thought Brooks conducted one of the best virtual classes I’ve attended.
I enjoyed going over the case studies. I learn the best when I can crunch numbers or write answers down myself. I also liked having pre-reads to the course, as well as reference materials, and two books, to use as a reference going forward.
As always, the depth and industry thought leadership that Forisk provides raises the bar. This is my second Forisk workshop and I will be sure to attend events in the future… I learn something new every time…
Wonderful introduction to finance applied to forestry.
Brooks is very good at making complex topics easy to understand. He breaks them down into less complex pieces.
The balance of real world experience coupled with quantitative rigor is why these seminars are worth every penny and then some!
Awesome material. Great for professionals and landowners.