The Green Advantage

Invest in your future, then invest in your world.^TM

TRIPLING PLANTING THIS YEAR

All of last year's trees that were available for sale have been sold, and due to expected demand, we will plant 12,000 more trees this year, or triple the amount from last year. After we have planted these trees, approximately half of the available land at Finca Leola will have been planted. This will be about 4 years ahead of schedule! We are already starting to look at the next finca to purchase, since it is possible we will run out of space by next year.

Teak will continue to comprise the majority of the planting, and there will be more of the other species from last year as well - Spanish cedar , mahogany , and surá . The pilón seedlings that we were going to plant last year never did become available, but maybe we'll get some this year.

In addition, we are looking into some species to plant that will encourage the increase of wildlife in the area. One variety that MINAE is encouraging to be planted is the almendra, because the green parrot needs its fruit, and the tree is rapidly disappearing from the wild. We will probably plant some around the waterways this year.

Speaking of waterways, our manager, Hector, informs us that the water in the streams and river at the finca is much better already, even after just planting 5 hectares. There is considerably more water, and it is much cleaner. We can't wait to see what it will look like in just a few more years.

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BRINGING MORE VALUE TO YOUR WOOD

An important decision we made recently is to purchase our own portable sawmill. The reason is that we can give tree owners better wood values by cutting the wood ourselves. Much of the profit is lost in getting the trees out of inaccessible areas as well as hauling them to the sawmill. Because we will be cutting them on the property, we will be able to pay you a premium for your wood.

Also, the kind of sawmill we are buying is very efficient, much better than the large sawmills; therefore less wood is lost in the cutting. You can get as much as 40% more per log with the newer mills. This results in more value for the logs.

In keeping with our goal of reforesting as much of Costa Rica as possible, we have implemented a couple of programs. Since not everyone has a few thousand dollars easily accessible, we have developed two different payment plans for trees - monthly and yearly. The yearly plan is ideal for those wanting to use self-directed IRAs to buy trees.

Also, to encourage you to pay early and buy often, we are giving cumulative quantity discounts based on your total purchase of trees; for example, if in year one you buy 200 teak for a total price of $7,000, then the next year, to purchase 100 more would only cost $2,000. The reason is that the quantity discount for 300 teak is $3,000 per 100 trees instead of $3,500. So the third block of 100 that you buy is $2,000, making the three-block total price $9,000, which reflects the quantity discount.

Go to Tree Purchase Options if you have any questions, or call us toll-free at 888.408.7909 between 6AM and 9:30PM EST.

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ON THE WEB SITE...

Look for up-to-date information on the website, like details on the new payment plans (see above); in Life in the Campo , a story about "extreme" horseback lessons and a guest article; some new links ; and an article on guidelines for selling timber .

The website was listed on Userfriendly.org as a link of the day. Since this is a cartoon series site, they selected the humorous Fishing story from Life in the Campo.