By: Lara Herboldsheimer

Deciding to sell timber from your property

Whether you have recently acquired a new property or have been contemplating for years about what to do with your grove of trees, making the choice to sell your timber can be quite challenging. Naturally, some of the initial questions you might ask yourself include, "What is the value of my trees?" and "How can I reduce damage to my land?" There are numerous steps involved in the timber selling process, with many advantages to harvesting trees, as well as certain precautions to consider when opting to harvest your timber. You can seek a wealth of professional advice on this matter. The most important thing to keep in mind is that a large-scale forestry operation is generally irreversible within your lifetime, so it's essential to take your time and approach it correctly. Here are some tips to ensure your success.

Are You Selling Timber?

First and foremost, what is prompting you to think about selling timber? There are various reasons why individuals choose to cut trees on their property, including some common motivations listed below:

-A source of income
-Enhancing wildlife habitat.
-Boosting the overall health of your forest.
-Or perhaps you are interested in all of these aspects simultaneously. After all, if you can enhance the health of your forest, land, and wildlife while also generating some income, why wouldn't you?

First, let's explore the advantages of removing trees from your property:

The habitat for local wildlife improves by offering food, cover, and shelter for small creatures in fallen or dead trees. These dead trees can become homes for numerous insects, which serve as a food source for various animals.

It promotes the regeneration of new trees and other plants by clearing the canopy and underbrush.

Through selective harvesting, you can enhance the diversity of native tree species, creating habitats for a range of animals and boosting biodiversity.

The value of timber increases by improving the health of the tree stand. Removing dead, diseased, or older trees can lead to the development of newer, more valuable tree stands. This also allows other trees to access essential nutrients and space to grow, thereby enhancing the quality of the tree stand.

Assessing the Value of Your Timber

Numerous factors influence the worth of your timber, including species, age, quality, and quantity of trees, timber prices, and the availability of loggers in your region. If your stand contains more trees suitable for pulp, the value will be lower compared to timber intended for veneers and other premium uses (e.g., oak, walnut, cherry, etc.). States with less timber (e.g., Texas, South Dakota, etc.) may struggle to generate significant income from a harvest, while states with abundant high-quality timber production (e.g., Minnesota, Ohio, West Virginia) may be more favorable for this.

A professional forester can assist you in determining the best value for the timber on your land. State agencies, non-profit conservation organizations, and private consulting firms employ foresters who can aid in this process. They will perform a timber cruise to inventory and survey your stand, identifying all marketable trees that can be harvested and estimating their volume based on height and diameter at breast height (dbh). By combining this information with current logging costs and the stumpage price for timber, they can provide you with an estimate of your forest stand's potential value.

How to Market Timber on Your Land

A qualified forester can assess your land and create a timber management strategy tailored to your needs. They typically have connections that can link you with professionals in the logging sector, providing contacts for loggers and timber purchasers. Choosing a recommended logger ensures you receive the right expertise for your land while also working with someone dependable. It's essential to ensure their objectives align with yours, focusing on enhancing the overall health of your forest rather than merely maximizing profit and disregarding your goals. Loggers must be diligent in harvesting only the specified trees and minimizing any damage to your land and remaining trees.

Forestry Considerations

Before the timber is cut, make sure to communicate your objectives regarding how the timber will be harvested, removed, and sold. Establish a signed agreement to ensure everyone understands the plan.
Verify that the logger possesses the necessary licenses, bonding, and insurance to cover any potential damages or injuries that may occur on your property. Logging can be hazardous, and unfortunate incidents can happen. To protect yourself from liability for their actions, ensure they have sufficient liability and property damage insurance.
Once the logs are taken away, the treetops and branches (commonly referred to as "slash") will remain. Be sure to specify in your contract how the logger should handle the slash. Your logger has several options for cleaning up your property. If the amount is manageable, they might leave it to decompose naturally, or they could gather it in specific areas to create wildlife habitats or to burn later.
Depending on the layout of your land, a logger may need to clear or enhance logging paths to access the trees and remove them. Confirm that this is included in the proposal and contract. Maintaining a network of good trails on your property is beneficial for future management and can also aid in leasing and property management.

Additionally, you should identify erosion concerns if the logging is to take place when the ground is not frozen. Heavy equipment can quickly compact and rut wet ground, which could be a lasting impact for years. If there is damage, ensure your contract requires them to re-grade it before leaving.

Responsible Timber Harvesting

Work alongside your logging team to schedule the harvest during the least disruptive period for the ground, ideally when it is hard or frozen.
Engage in discussions with your neighbors regarding your plans to thin out your trees, as this may impact their tree stands and increase traffic, noise, etc., around their properties.
Choose trees that will have the least impact on wildlife – for instance, if there is a large acorn-producing oak that deer rely on, consider selecting another tree nearby to avoid depleting their food source.
Ensure that your logging contractor is both skilled and trustworthy.
Develop a sustainable plan that guarantees a consistent income while you own the property. While excessive harvesting might yield short-term profits, it is not a sustainable long-term strategy that can be reversed within a single lifetime of ownership.

What to Do After Harvesting Timber

After selling timber, you may feel a bit anxious about your choice. Logging significantly alters the landscape, particularly if you opted for a clearcut. However, despite the initial mess, the area will transform remarkably within a single growing season as new growth emerges. Here are some additional actions you can take at this stage.

Consider planting more trees or shrubs. If you wish to introduce different high-value tree species or wildlife-friendly shrubs, now is the perfect time. Plant them in the spring or fall and encase them in a protective cage to prevent wildlife from browsing on them.
To reduce erosion problems on logging roads or log landings, consider seeding them with both annual and perennial plants. Ryegrass and clover typically establish quickly and attract wildlife, while native plants may require an additional growing season to take root.
Utilize the new access trails to enhance the health of your remaining trees. For instance, carry out timber stand improvement (TSI) activities, such as pruning, to promote the health and growth rate of the remaining trees.

After doing a timber harvest, you can also often earn a higher price on leases because the habitat is improved for wildlife. As mentioned earlier, many wildlife species use small openings and regenerating forestlands at some point throughout the year.

Frequently asked questions