Owners and managers of millions of forestland acres are represented by Schwabe.

Experience

• Served as lead counsel with regard to the disposition and acquisition of millions of acres of timberlands in the United States and myriad operational issues related to such lands.
• Negotiated agreements related to the operation of timberlands, such as road use and maintenance agreements, rights-of-way and easements, log and fiber supply agreements, logging and hauling contracts, leases, access permits, and licenses.
• Negotiated and documented loans secured by timberlands and manufacturing facilities and products.
• Negotiated conservation easements, forest carbon transactions, and alternative revenue stream transactions (e.g., highest and best-use sales and wind, solar, and other energy projects).
• Advised timberland and TIMO clients with respect to capital formation process and private placements of timber-related investment funds.
• Negotiated timberland investment management agreements.
• Advised on tax and regulatory compliance issues related to ownership of timberlands and mills.
• Consulted on environmental issues related to mill ownership and operations, including agency negotiation and related remediation and cleanup.
• Defended or prosecuted claims on behalf of timberland owners involving a variety of matters, including adverse possession, timber trespass, land use, and tort and breach of contract claims.
• Helped develop, refine, and tailor forestry-related policies, including Forest Stewardship Council, Lacey Act, and chain-of-custody strategies.
• Interpreted current law and policy trends in the area of sustainable forestry and advised on issues concerning carbon sequestration, biomass facilities and contracts, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), conservation easements, water resources, ecosystem services, and community forests.
• Assisted with litigation and alternative dispute resolution of forestry and forest product disputes.
• Assisted with product distribution including warranties, disclaimers, labeling, and California Air Resource Board (CARB) and Proposition 65 disclosures and internet limitations.
• Successfully defended timberland owners in gender, race, and disability discrimination claims by former employees.
• Provided comprehensive employment audit and advice services for timberland owner, including best practices on issues involving employee classifications, wage and hour, privacy, harassment, and benefits.
• Advised Timber Investment Management Organizations on small tract dispositions and operational matters.
• Advised major TIMOs in buying and selling of timberlands throughout the United States.
• Negotiated numerous road use and maintenance agreements, rights-of-way and easements, logging and hauling contracts, leases, access permits and licenses for various timberland owners in Oregon and Washington.
• Documented loans secured by manufacturing facilities and products for a major forest products manufacturer.
• Acted as lead counsel with regard to the acquisition of over 300,000 acres of timberlands in the Shasta Region of Northern California in two separate transactions for affiliated timber investment management organization entities.
• Represented a timber investment management organization in the acquisition of 1.55 million acres of timberland located in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and Alabama involving approximately 1.38 million fee acres and approximately 175,000 acres of leasehold property.
• Served as lead counsel for a timber investment management organization in the disposition of 111,967 acres of timberlands in Mendocino County, California, and related rights and property.
• Served as real estate and natural resources counsel for North America’s largest manufacturer of hardwood plywood and hardwood veneer products, which operates facilities throughout the United States and Canada.
• Served as lead counsel on numerous large-scale conservation easement transactions in Oregon, Washington, and California on behalf of both land trusts and industrial timberland owners, including transactions involving Forest Legacy Program “working forest” conservation easements on the southern slopes of Mt. St. Helens in Skamania County and on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, in the Arch Cape Region on the Oregon Coast, on the East Moraine adjoining Wallowa Lake in Eastern Oregon, and in the Redwood forests of Humboldt County, California.
• Served as lead counsel for acquisition, funding, and operational issues related to a small-diameter log mill facility and accompanying integrated biomass energy campus in Wallowa, Oregon.
• Represented a timber investment management organization regarding its sale to a third-party commercial timberlands owner of approximately 176,000 acres of timberland interests comprised of fee, timber deeds, and leaseholds located in upstate New York, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana.
• Regularly advise and defend a timber client in multiple employment-related discrimination issues and disputes.
• Defended and settled reforestation and harvest violations issued by the Oregon Department of Forestry.
• Assisted clients in resolving numerous disputes with federal and state agencies which sell ‎timber sale contracts.‎
• Assisted clients in navigating the vagaries of the U.S. Small Business Administration set-‎aside timber sale program.‎
• Assisted clients in navigating the vagaries of the federal log export and substitution rules.
• Obtained summary judgment for a TIMO and dismissal with prejudice in claim by the plaintiff relating to option to purchase certain real property in timberlands in Snoqualmie forest.
• Defended wood products manufacturer in Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) case brought by the United States for cleanup costs related to historical lumber treatment operations.