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Note 1 - Nature of Business and Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Notes to Financial Statements  
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure and Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]
Note
1.
 Nature of Business and Significant Accounting Policies
 
Nature of business:
 
The Company was incorporated in the State of Louisiana on
June
27,
1930.
The Company’s business is the ownership and management of land. The primary activities consist of leasing its properties for minerals (oil and gas), raising and harvesting timber, and surface use (agriculture, right of ways, hunting).
 
Significant accounting policies:
 
Pervasiveness of estimates:
 
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
 
Cash equivalents:
 
Cash equivalents are highly liquid debt instruments with original maturities of
three
months or less when purchased.
 
Certificate of deposits:
 
Certificates of deposit have maturities greater than
three
months when purchased, in amounts not greater than
$250,000.
All certificates of deposit are held until maturity and recorded at cost which approximates fair value. Certificates of deposit mature through
2018.
 
Property and equipment:
 
Property and equipment is stated at cost. Major additions are capitalized. Maintenance and repairs are charged to income as incurred. Depreciation is computed on the straight-line and accelerated methods over the estimated useful lives of the assets.
 
Timber:
 
Reforestation costs and other costs associated with the planting and growth of timber, such as site preparation, purchases of seedlings, planting, fertilization, and herbicide application, are capitalized. Timber carrying costs such as insect, wildlife and wildfire control and forest management services are expensed as incurred.
 
Costs attributable to timber harvested or depleted are charged against revenue as trees are harvested. Depletion rates are determined based on the relationship between the carrying value of the timber and the total timber volume estimated to be harvested over the harvest cycle. Upon the clear-cut harvest of a timber tract, the net timber asset value is expensed.
 
Revenue from timber is recognized upon either the thinning or clear-cut harvesting of our timber and is recorded at such time of such activity. The Company does not enter into timber deed contracts.
 
Impairment of long-lived assets:
 
Long-lived assets, such as land, timber and buildings and equipment, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset
may
not be recoverable. If events or circumstances arise that require a long-lived asset to be tested for potential impairment, the Company
first
compares undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset to its carrying value. If the carrying amount of the long-lived asset is not recoverable on an undiscounted cash flow basis, an impairment charge is recognized to the extent that the carrying value exceeds the fair value. Fair value maybe determined through various valuation techniques including quoted market prices,
third
-party independent appraisals and discounted cash flow models. The Company recorded
no
impairment charges during
2016
and
2015.
 
Oil and gas:
 
Oil and gas revenue is recorded when the Company is notified by the well’s operator as to the Company’s share of the revenue proceeds together with the withheld severance taxes or net revenue.
 
In addition, the Company does accrue estimated oil and gas net revenue earned but not received from these well operators as of the balance sheet date and records this accrued amount as accounts receivable. The accounts receivable balance consists solely of these accrued net revenues.
 
The Company does not have the ability to know the actual production volume or the oil and gas price paid for the production until the actual payment is received from the well’s operator. In estimating the accrued net receivable and its collectability, the Company reviews the prior months of activity by well, available subsequent net revenue receipts by well and any other pertinent information that is available to the Company to estimate the net revenue at the balance sheet date. As of
December
31,
2016
and
2015,
no
allowance for doubtful accounts was recorded.
 
Surface:
 
Surface revenue is earned through annual leases for agricultural and hunting activities and the Company records revenues from these activities at the time of a fully executed lease agreement and receipt of annual lease payment. Surface revenues from these sources are recurring on an annual basis.
 
Surface revenue is also earned through right of way and related temporary work space leases, both of which are not unusual in occurrence and are not recurring sources of revenue. Generally, a right of way lease relates to either a utility or pipeline right of way that is a permanent servitude or for fixed periods of time greater than
thirty
years. The Company retains ownership of the surface or land and is limited to the use of the surface. Revenue is recorded at the time of the agreement’s execution date. For income tax purposes, these types of agreements are treated as sales of business assets.
 
Other sources of surface revenue can be commercial activities leases and surface mineral sales, such as dirt.
 
Net Income and Dividends Paid per common stock:
 
Net income and dividends paid per common stock are based on the weighted average number of common stock shares outstanding during the period.
 
Dividends:
 
Pursuant to a dividend reversion clause in the Company’s Articles of Incorporation, dividends not claimed within
one
year after the dividend became payable will expire and revert in full ownership to the Company and the Company’s obligation to pay such dividend will cease. Any dividend reversions are recorded in equity upon receipt.
 
Income taxes:
 
Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are determined using the liability (or balance sheet) method. Under this method, the net deferred tax asset or liability is determined based on the tax effects of the temporary differences between the book and tax bases of the various balance sheet assets and liabilities and gives current recognition to changes in tax rates and laws.
 
In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, the Company has analyzed its filing positions in federal and state income tax returns for the tax returns that remain subject
to examination, generally
3
years after filing. The Company believes that all filing positions are highly certain and that all income tax filing positions and deductions would be sustained upon a taxing jurisdiction’s audit. Therefore, no reserve for uncertain tax positions is required. No interest or penalties have been levied against the Company and none are anticipated.
 
Treasury Stock - Louisiana Business Corporation Act:
 
Effective
January
1,
2015,
companies incorporated under Louisiana law became subject to the Louisiana Business Corporation Act (which replaced the Louisiana Business Corporation Law). Provisions of the Louisiana Business Corporation Act (“LBCA”) eliminate the concept of treasury stock and provide that shares reacquired by a company are to be treated as authorized but unissued shares. As a result of this change in law, shares previously classified as treasury stock are presented as a reduction to issued shares of common stock, reducing the stated value of common stock and the excess is charged to retained earnings.
 
Recent Accounting Pronouncements:
 
In
August
2016,
the FASB issued ASU No. 
2016
-
15,
Statement of Cash Flows (Topic
230):
Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, in an effort to reduce the diversity of how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The amendments of this ASU are effective for fiscal years beginning after
December
 
15,
2017,
and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this amendment to have a material effect on its financial condition and results of operations.
 
In
June
2016,
the FASB Issued ASU
2016
-
12,
“Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic
606):
Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients” and clarifies the objective of the collectability criterion, presentation of taxes collected from customers, non-cash consideration, contract modifications at transition, completed contracts at transition and how guidance in Topic
606
is retrospectively applied. The amendments do not change the core principle of the guidance in Topic
606.
The effective dates are the same as those for Topic
606.
 
The Company does not expect the adoption of this amendment to have a material effect on its financial condition and results of operations.
 
On
February
24,
2016,
the FASB issued ASU No.
2016
-
02,
Leases, requiring lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with the exception of short-term leases. For lessees, leases will continue to be classified as either operating or finance leases in the income statement. Lessor accounting is similar to the current model but updated to align with certain changes to the lessee model. Lessors will continue to classify leases as operating, direct financing or sales-type leases. The effective date of the new standard for public companies is for fiscal years beginning after
December
15,
2018
and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The new standard must be adopted using a modified retrospective transition and requires application of the new guidance at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented. The Company does not believe this change will have an impact on its financial position, results of operations and liquidity.
 
In
November
2015,
FASB issued ASU
2015
-
17,
Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes. This is part of FASB’s simplification initiative. This ASU requires changes to the balance sheet classification of deferred taxes, which the Company immediately adopted. These changes simplify the presentation of deferred income taxes by requiring all deferred income tax assets and liabilities to be classified as noncurrent in a classified balance sheet. The current requirement that deferred tax assets and liabilities of a tax-paying component of an entity be offset and presented as a single amount is not affected by these changes. As such, all deferred income tax assets and liabilities were classified as deferred income tax payable on the
December
31,
2016
and
2015
Balance Sheets.
 
In
May
2014,
the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update
2014
-
09,
“Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic
606)”.
This update supersedes most of the existing revenue recognition requirements in GAAP and requires (i) an entity to recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services and (ii) requires expanded disclosures regarding the nature, amount, timing, and certainty of revenue and cash flows from contracts with customers. The standard will be effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after
December
15,
2017,
with early application not permitted. The standard allows for either full retrospective adoption, meaning the standard is applied to all periods presented in the financial statements, or modified retrospective adoption, meaning the standard is applied only to the most current period presented. The Company does not believe this change will have an impact on its financial position, results of operations and liquidity.
 
There are various other updates recently issued, most of which represented technical corrections to the accounting literature or application to specific industries and are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.