University of Georgia

2027 Timberland Investment Conference Working Agenda

The Langdale Center for Forest Business is currently developing the program for the 2027 Timberland Investment Conference. The preliminary agenda below is subject to change and will be finalized in December 2026. To view the agenda from our 2025 Timberland Investment Conference agenda, please click here.

Tuesday, March 9

8:30 am – 3:30 pm Forestry Field Tour
Hosted by Rayonier | Limited to 30 Attendees

Wednesday, March 10

11:00 am – 5:30 pm Conference Check-in

11:30 am – 1:00 pm Women in Timber Luncheon

1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Introduction and Welcome

    • Erin Lincoln; Director of the Center for Forest Business, University of Georgia

1:15 pm – 2:45 pm Session 1: Economic Outlook & Policy Updates

  • 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm United States Macroeconomic & Labor Market Outlook
    • Dr. Laura Ullrich; Indeed, Director of Economic Research
  • 2:15 pm – 2:45 pm Navigating Change: Policy and Trade Forces Shaping the Timber Industry
    • Kate Gatto; National Alliance of Forest Owners, Chief Strategy Officer

2:45 pm – 3:15 pm Afternoon Networking Break

3:15 pm – 4:45 pm Session 2: Timberland Valuation in a Changing Landscape

  • 3:15 pm – 3:40 pm Development Trends and Land Use Change: What the Data Is Showing
    • Danan Margason; Aarden AI, Founder & CEO
  • 3:40 pm – 4:00 pm Timberland Valuation Approaches: What’s Changing and Why it Matters
    • MetLife Investment Management, Timberland and Forest Products
  • 4:00 pm – 4:45 pm Panel: Timberland Valuation Approaches 
    • Panel Moderator: MetLife Investment Management, Timberland and Forest Products

4:45 pm – 6:45 pm Opening Reception, Ocean Lawn

Thursday, March 11

7:00 am – 8:30 am Breakfast

7:30 am – 12:00 pm Conference Check-in

8:30 am – 10:00 am Session 3: Land Use Optionality
Sponsored by Orbis

  • 8:30 am – 9:00 am Active Portfolio Management & Land Use Optionality
    • Rayonier
  • 9:00 am – 9:40 am Managing Competing Surface Uses in the Modern Energy and Mineral Environment
    • Andrew Graham; Steptoe & Johnson, Energy Lawyer
  • 9:40 am – 10:00 am Maximizing Land Use Value: A Q&A
    • Clarence Neese; Orbis, Co-Founder & Vice President

10:00 am – 10:30 am Morning Networking Break

10:30 am – 12:00 am Session 4: Domestic Industrial Timber Market Solutions

12:00 am – 1:30 pm Lunch

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Session 5: Rethinking Marketing Practices

  • 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Worst Practices: How Ignoring What’s Successful Leads to Truly Breakthrough Ideas
    • Andy Pearson; Liquid Death, VP of Creative

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm Afternoon Networking Break

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm Session 6: International Forest Investments

4:30 pm – 6:30 pm Closing Reception, Ocean Lawn

News & Announcements

09.02.2026

Student Spotlight: Yancey Kerr

Yancey Kerr chose the MFR in Forest Business program to deepen his understanding of both forestry and finance and explore how the two intersect. Since joining the Center in January 2026, he has taken advantage of the opportunities to learn from faculty, alumni, and industry leaders across the forest sector. This summer, Yancey further explored the connection between forestry and finance through an internship with MetLife Investment Management, gaining valuable experience on the debt side of the timberland investment industry while learning from several Warnell and Center alumni.

Read More

08.06.2026

One-Year Forest Carbon Contracts: Do They Create Meaningful Benefits?

For many forest landowners, 100-year carbon contracts are a non-starter. But what about 1-year harvest deferrals? New research led by Bruno Kanieski Da Silva shows that short-term harvest deferral programs can increase carbon storage at the landscape level. However, if successful and widely adopted, they can also raise timber prices and push mills to source wood from farther away. The study used agent-based modeling to examine 100 years of timber and carbon market dynamics in the U.S. South.

Read More

07.22.2026

A New Approach for Harvesting Small Wet Forest Sites in the U.S. South

Many forested wet flats across the U.S. South face a management challenge: these stands are too wet for conventional full-tree harvesting equipment and too small to justify the higher costs associated with specialized shovel logging systems. As a result, timber is often left unmanaged and unrecovered from wet sites. New research evaluated whether cut-to-length (CTL) harvesting systems, which have low ground pressure and good trafficability in wet conditions, offered a cost-competitive solution.

Read More

Serving the forest business community

The Center for Forest Business serves the forest business community through education, research and service.

About Us Give Now