Selling 129 acres of timber near Whipple, Ohio
Learn how we got this family $214,630 for their timber in Washington County
Getting an experienced consulting forester to maximize the value of a timber sale
In early August of 2025, a family in Marietta called to ask us to evaluate a large timber stand on a 330-acre parcel they own near Whipple, Ohio.
Their timber has been growing in a woodland stewardship management plan that was professionally-written for it ten years ago, and it was thriving. But a recent blight has struck many of the yellow poplar stands in southeast Ohio, causing a catastrophic mass mortality in that species. The owners wanted us to investigate to learn if their stand had also been damaged.
What we found in this timber stand
When we cruised the timber we found signs of mortality in some of the yellow poplar in the stand. What we saw here wasn’t yet as severe as we’d seen in other stands that summer, but we knew that essentially all of the mature trees of this species would probably die before the end of the year, and certainly wouldn’t survive the coming winter.
We advised the family of our findings, and they asked us how feasible it would be to harvest and sell all of the yellow poplar trees to salvage their remaining value. We explained that many others are doing just that, which has caused a glut of poplar in the market and has dramatically lowered the price that sawmills are willing to pay for more of it.
Since the rest of the timber on the property was in excellent health and condition, we advised that they could have a very successful sale if they included the poplar trees in a sale of some other hardwood timber from the property. The family had already been anticipating a harvest in 2026 or 2027, so the severe impact of the poplar blight this year prompted them to choose to sell now.
Trusting our forestry expertise and prior experience with this same timber stand they retained us to administrate the sale and harvest for them.
The aerial map (click to enlarge) shows a red line marking the property’s boundaries. The blue lines enclosed the several areas we;ve marked trees to harvest. The purple lines shows where we want skidding roads to be built. The blue circle marks the parking area for logging equipment. The purple triangle marks the log landing or staging area.
The topographical map (click to enlarge) shows the same markings on the parcel, but also its underlying terrain. This allows the loggers we invited to bid on the timber to ascertain the difficulty of the harvest in advance, which in this case is low.
Trees we selected for the timber sale
We selected 1623 mature hardwood trees for harvest this time, with a final tally of 517,885 board feet, measured on the Doyle Scale. This table shows the full inventory of each tree to be harvested, classified by species.
Hardwood timber tally
| Species | Trees | Total BFV | % of BFV | Average DBH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Aspen |
59 |
10,639 |
2.0 |
19.0 |
|
Basswood |
1 |
293 |
<1 |
24 |
|
Beech |
4 |
1156 |
<1 |
25.35 |
|
Black gum |
8 |
1920 |
<1 |
20.75 |
|
Black oak |
108 |
53,085 |
10.2 |
25.20 |
|
Black walnut |
34 |
7,411 |
1 |
19.8 |
|
Buckeye |
8 |
1874 |
<1 |
18 |
|
Cherry |
32 |
7,992 |
1.5 |
20.80 |
|
Chestnut oak |
102 |
37699 |
7.2 |
28.4 |
|
Cottonwood |
2 |
658 |
<1 |
22 |
|
Elm |
4 |
935 |
<1 |
23.35 |
|
Hard Maple |
44 |
13,269 |
2.5 |
22.05 |
|
Hickory |
53 |
14,432 |
2.7 |
20.80 |
|
Northern red oak |
77 |
50,587 |
9.7 |
27.8 |
|
Yellow poplar |
899 |
240,392 |
46.4 |
20 |
|
Sassafrass |
4 |
555 |
<1 |
19.5 |
|
Scarlet oak |
14 |
7,579 |
1 |
26 |
|
Soft maple |
64 |
13,343 |
3 |
20.3 |
|
Sycamore |
17 |
11,586 |
2 |
28 |
|
White oak |
82 |
39,182 |
8 |
24.35 |
|
White pine |
7 |
3,299 |
<1 |
23.1 |
|
TOTAL |
1623 |
517,885 |
100 |
21.3 |
BFV = Board Feet Volume, which calculates the amount of lumber potential in a stand
DBH = Diameter at Breast Height, which is the standard way to take this measurement
This property also held a 12.75-acre plantation of about 6300 mature pine trees which we tallied separately in this sale.
Softwood timber tally
| Species | Total BFV | BFV per acre | Average DBH |
|---|---|---|---|
|
White pine |
105,412 |
8,248 |
16.6 |
Understand that this is nowhere near the majority of the trees growing on the property. This is a careful selective harvest that reserves and protects thousands of other trees there to continue growing to maturity.
Getting competitive bids for the timber
We prepared an official notice of standing timber sale and sent it to 30 sawmills and master loggers who we know do good work.
All the loggers received notice of the sale on August 20, 2025 and were given 32 days to visit the property and satisfy themselves about the quality and accessibility of the timber offered for sale.
Sealed bids were due at our offices by noon on September 19, and we received 8 bids in these amounts:
| Bid Amount | $ per BF |
|---|---|
|
$214,630 |
.414 |
|
$208,100 |
.401 |
|
$202,000 |
.390 |
|
$194,250 |
.375 |
|
$187,600 |
.362 |
|
$173,100 |
.334 |
|
$166,999 |
.322 |
|
$143,798 |
.277 |
Please notice the bid disparity. The highest bid is nearly 50% larger than the lowest bid. You simply cannot get full value for your timber when you deal directly with loggers and their timber buyers.
What happens after the sale
The seller has accepted the highest bid and the logger has been notified that the contract (which we have already prepared) will be awarded to his firm.
The winning bidder has 10 days from September 29 to sign the sale contract, and pay the owner a non-refundable 35% deposit ($74,900) of the full sales price.
He will then be afforded sufficient time to schedule the work to be done. But he must pay the owner the final 65% balance ($139,100) in full before he is allowed onto the land again to begin the harvest.
The contract has enforcement provisions to ensure that only the 1,623 marked trees (and the 12.78 acres of white pine) will be taken, along with all the white pine trees. The logger must also adhere to Ohio’s BMP Guidelines for erosion control and seeding of disturbed areas. And we will take and hold a performance bond of $10,000 from that firm, that we will not release until we are satisfied that restoration has been done correctly.
We will also file a Forestry Pollution Prevention Plan with the Washington Soil and Water Conservation District so that they can inspect the logger’s work too.
When and how the timber harvest will proceed
The harvest on this property will begin in October and finish within two weeks. We will oversee the harvest, making multiple unannounced visits to inspect the site and ensure that the work is done correctly.
Throughout the harvest process, we will keep the family apprised of its progress with video and photo documentation.
Once harvest is completed our foresters will write a new Woodland Stewardship Management Plan for the property. Once approved by the state forester for an official forest land designation, the property will be qualified to enter Ohio’s CAUV Program for timber production and the owners will enjoy a 50% reduction in property tax while growing more timber for harvest later.
We will also show the owner how to qualify the property for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) which offers financial and technical assistance to improve the wildlife habitat on the land.
Key takeaways from this timber sale
- Top-dollar price obtained via competitive bidding
- Lower property taxes for growing more timber
- A hassle-free harvest with proper restoration guaranteed
- Landowners 100% satisfied
MORE: Read about a smaller timber sale we managed in Muskingum County
- Minimum: 10 wooded acres or 50 mature trees.