SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
8-K
Current
Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
The
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of
Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported) November 17,
2009
Pope
Resources, A Delaware Limited Partnership
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
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91-1313292
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(State
or other jurisdiction of
incorporation
or organization)
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(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification
No.)
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19245 Tenth Avenue NE, Poulsbo,
Washington
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98370
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(Address
of principal executive offices)
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(ZIP
Code)
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Registrant's
telephone number, including area code (360)
697-6626
NOT
APPLICABLE
(Former
name or former address, if changed since last report.)
Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions (SEE General Instruction A.2. below):
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o
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Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17
CFR 230.425)
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o
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Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17
CFR 240.14a-12)
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o
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Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR 240.14d-(b))
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o
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Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
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INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED
IN THE REPORT
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Item
8.01
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OTHER
EVENTS
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On
November 17, 2009 the Partnership announced its plan to continue to defer
harvest volume in 2010 and reduce its quarterly distribution by 50% to 10 cents
per unit. The fourth quarter 2009 distribution of 10 cents per unit
will be effective for unitholders of record on December 3, 2009 and payable on
December 17, 2009. A copy of that press release is attached hereto as
Exhibit 99.1.
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Item
9.01.
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FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
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ExhibitNo
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Description
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99.1
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Press
release of the registrant dated November 17,
2009.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| POPE RESOURCES, A DELAWARE LIMITED PARTNERSHIP | |||
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DATE:
November 17, 2009
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BY:
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Thomas
M. Ringo
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Thomas
M. Ringo
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Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer,
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|||
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Pope
Resources, A Delaware Limited Partnership, and
Pope
MGP, Inc., General Partner
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|||
Exhibit
99.1
Press
Release of the Registrant dated November 17, 2009
 |
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Contact: Tom
Ringo
VP
& CFO
360.697.6626
Fax
360.697.5932
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NEWS
RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
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Nasdaq:
POPE
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November
17, 2009
POPE
RESOURCES ANNOUNCES THE CONTINUATION IN 2010 OF DEFERRED LOG HARVEST AND
A
50% REDUCTION IN THE QUARTERLY DISTRIBUTION
Pope
Resources, A Delaware Limited Partnership (Nasdaq:POPE) today announced its
current intention to harvest 32 million board feet (MMBF) of timber in 2010, a
level that is 47% below our long-term sustainable level of 60 MMBF, of which 16
MMBF pertains to our two timber funds. Nearly a year ago, we
announced a plan to harvest 37 MMBF in 2009. As 2009 progressed, we decided to
defer additional volume from our original plan owing to protracted weakness in
log markets, and we are now estimating our annual harvest for 2009 will be
closer to 32 MMBF. The drop-off in housing starts has curtailed demand for solid
wood products and, rather than absorb materially lower log prices, we are opting
instead to allow 47% of our annual sustainable harvest to continue to grow. The
Partnership’s expectation is that when we ultimately harvest this deferred
volume, unitholders will benefit through both biological growth and improved
price realization.
This
announcement for 2010 planned harvest activity essentially reflects our
assumption that market conditions, both from a pricing and log take-away
standpoint, will be consistent with 2009. Thus we have planned to
harvest a similar log volume in 2010 notwithstanding the increase in acres
associated with the Fund II acquisitions. We will monitor log markets closely
throughout 2010 and may adjust harvest volume from the current plan as warranted
by opportunities or challenges presented.
In light
of challenging market conditions for our business segments and our decision to
limit harvest volume, we are reducing the quarterly distribution from 20 cents
per unit to 10 cents effective for the fourth quarter of 2009. Accordingly, we
are announcing today a quarterly distribution of 10 cents per unit, effective
for unitholders of record on December 3, 2009 and payable on December 17,
2009.
About Pope Resources
Pope
Resources, a publicly traded limited partnership, and its subsidiaries Olympic
Resource Management and Olympic Property Group, own or manage over 152,000 acres
of timberland and development property in Washington and Oregon. We
also manage, co-invest in, and consolidate two timberland investment funds that
we manage for a fee. In addition, we offer our forestry consulting and
timberland investment management services to third-party owners and managers of
timberland in Washington, Oregon, and California. The company and its
predecessor companies have owned and managed timberlands and development
properties for more than 150 years. Additional information on the company can be
found at www.poperesources.com. The
contents of our website are not incorporated into this release or into our
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This
release serves as qualified notice to nominees as provided for under Treasury
Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b)(4) and (d). Please note that 100
percent of the Partnership’s distributions to foreign investors are attributable
to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or
business. Accordingly, all of the Partnership’s distributions to
foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest
effective tax rate for individuals or corporations, as
applicable. Nominees, and not the Partnership, are treated as
withholding agents responsible for withholding distributions received by them on
behalf of foreign investors.