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acres occurred in June 1984. Pursuant to the plan, petitioner
transferred all the property held by Pope & Talbot Development to
the Partnership. However, as set forth in the notice and proxy
statement that petitioner sent to its shareholders describing the
plan, petitioner classified only 4,400 acres of this property as
development property; the remainder was classified as timberland.
Respondent’s expert, Bruce C. Allen of Bruce C. Allen &
Associates, Inc., determined that approximately 11,084 acres (31
parcels) of land held by Pope & Talbot Development had
development potential in the reasonably foreseeable future (i.e.,
5-10 years).11 A majority of this property was located in Kitsap
and Jefferson Counties. Kitsap County is the more developed of
the two counties, with a broad economic base and well-established
cities. Jefferson County is more rural with lower values and
lower levels of development.
In appraising the land, Mr. Allen utilized a sales
comparison approach. He analyzed roughly 200 sales spanning the
period from 1981 through 1987. He adjusted the comparable sales
for differences in size, location, topography, access, zoning,
view, and forested appearance. Mr. Allen opined that due to the
generally flat market conditions, only those sales in 1987
11Most of the acreage Mr. Allen valued was classified as
"Timberlands" in petitioner's proxy statement. In the proxy
statement, petitioner classified only 4,400 acres of land
transferred to Pope Resources as "Development Properties"; 78,300
acres were classified as "Timberlands".
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