Will logging my timber destroy my property?
No, a timber harvest will not destroy your property — if it’s conducted properly. And this is one of the many important reasons you should get a certified forester on your side to oversee any timber sale and harvest.
Timber buyers get paid by sawmills to make offers to buy timber as cheaply as possible. And loggers also get paid by sawmills to cut trees into logs and haul them back to the mill.
None of those three parties has any incentive to maximize the value you get for your timber, nor do they have incentive take any special care of your property. They’re just there to get the timber for the lowest price they can, and haul it away to mill it and sell it as lumber.
But an independent forester — working on your side — can do a lot to protect your interests.
We keep timber buyers and loggers honest
The first thing we do is to get an accurate inventory of all the timber in your stand. This prevents any buyer from low-balling it, or from trying any other common logging scams.
Then we consult with you to learn your current and future goals With your interests firmly in mind, we then organize a completely transparent and orderly timber sale for you. We create a competitive bidding environment, and solicit multiple bids from honest loggers who do good work with minimal damage to the forest floor, and who excel at restoration. These companies will compete to outbid each other, thereby getting you the maximum market value for your timber.
Then we create a timber harvest contract to make the loggers pay you the full purchase price for your timber — upfront — before they are allowed to cut a single tree. We will also make them adhere to best management practices to minimize the impact on your land. They will use methods to reduce soil disturbance and protect remaining trees and vegetation. For example: they must use handheld chainsaws and minimizing the use of heavy equipment, to ensure that the harvesting process has as little impact on your property as possible.
Additionally, we will compel them to take care to avoid damage to streams, wetlands, and other sensitive areas. During the harvest, the same certified forester who inventoried your land we will make multiple unannounced visits to the harvest to verify that the work is being done as agreed.
After the harvest, he will check to ensure that all restorations to the forest floor have been completed as agreed — or he will enforce contract provisions to compel them to finish.
Our goals are always to:
- Get you top dollar for your timber, and
- Protect the long-term health and vitality of your property.