Estate and Succession Planning for Forest and Farm Owners

FACULTY

Matthew Von Schuch, Flora Pettit / Harrisonburg
Karl Didier, Ph.D., Forestland Conservation Program Manager, Virginia Department of Forestry / Charlottesville
Adam Downing, Senior Extension Forester, Virginia Cooperative Extension / Madison

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Matthew Von Schuch, Flora Pettit / Harrisonburg

Matthew Von Schuch is an attorney who counsels businesses and their owners on matters relating to formation, acquisitions, sales, mergers, succession planning, as well as general business. He provides estate planning and administration advice to individuals. Drawing on his years of experience as a trial lawyer for the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Matt also advises clients on individual, business, and non-profit tax planning and controversy matters.

Karl Didier, Ph.D., Forestland Conservation Program Manager, Virginia Department of Forestry / Charlottesville

Karl Didier is the Department of Forestry’s Forestland Conservation Program Manager. He coordinates VDOF’s effort to acquire and steward open space easements, as well as VDOF’s effort to protect working forestlands through other innovative strategies, like Forest Legacy Planning and carbon markets. Karl has spent many years working in the non-profit sector overseeing conservation on global and national scales. He has spent most of his career helping organizations develop, apply, and assess the impact of their conservation programs, especially those focused on forests and forest biodiversity. He has worked for Rainforest Trust, for the Wildlife Conservation Society, and as an independent consultant in adaptive management of conservation projects. Karl has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from University of Southern California, has a Master’s and a PhD in Environmental and Forest Biology from the SUNY’s College of Environmental Science & Forestry, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida.

Adam Downing, Senior Extension Forester, Virginia Cooperative Extension / Madison

Adam Downing has worked as the Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Agent serving Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Northern District, a 28-county area generally described as the Northern Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley, since 2001. His professional expertise is in providing informal education regarding forestry and natural resources to address current issues in rural, urban, and rural/urban interface areas to home and landowners, professionals, decision-makers, and the public. Previously, Adam worked in Northwest Pennsylvania as an extension forester with Penn State. He has also served with the U.S. Peace Corps in Kenya and as an Assistant Service Forester in Indiana. Adam holds forestry degrees from Purdue and Penn State.