Globally
Involved Americans Shed Provincial Stereotype
Below is the complete text of the article.
World of Wood, August 1997
by Jim Carrier
From time to time I've thought of Denver,
Colorado as provincial - isolated from and unconcerned with, changes that lap at distant
shores. To act locally and ignore the rest sums up the attitude.
But four Coloradans recently crossed my
path who rewrite an old cliché. After traveling abroad they began working on
problems the rest of us only read about. On any given day you'll find them both
thinking and acting globally.
. . . financial adviser Virginia
Moran came to my attention after a column on cutting exotic woods in rain forests.
Her solution was to invest in a teak tree farm.
A long love affair with Costa Rica led her
to Tropical American Tree Farms, a 4,700-acre venture on the Pacific coast. The area
had been clear-cut of native wood. But founders Sherry and Steve Brunner (IWCS
#5545) learned that teak and other trees could be grown there.
Here's how it works. You invest in
100 trees at a cost of $21-$30 per tree. After eight years the eight-inch-thick
trees are thinned. The harvest pays back the investment. Then your crop is
harvested about every four years. After 25 years the last of your trees will be cut.
The demand for teak's beauty and
water-shedding is growing, but as a crop "it doesn't take 500 years to grow like
redwood," said Moran, who concentrates on socially screened investments.
"It's win-win. I'd like to do
something for Costa Rica. It provides (90-120) jobs. It's wonderful for the
environment. Teak leaves put out a lot of oxygen. I can make a tax-deductible
trip to see my investment. And, there is a little bed and breakfast, open-air
restaurant and other facilities.
"The return is so phenomenal I hate to
mention it for fear of scaring people away. It's probably 200 percent over time.
It's not a licensed security. I simply tell people about it. The
biggest risk is the first year or two. I intend to buy more. It's the niftiest
investment that I have ever found."
Copyright 1997, Empire magazine,
Denver, Colo. Reprinted with permission. For information contact Steve &
Sherry Brunner, Tropical American Tree Farms, c/o AAA Express Mail (SJO), 1641 N.W. 79th
Ave., Miami, FL 33126; USA telephone: (800) 788-4918, or 011-506-291-0713.
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