Forest Management Planning
for Marketing Forest Products
Generating Value From Your Woodlands
Lyle Almond
Forest Stewardship Educator
Wye Research and Education Center
410-827-8056 x125
lalmond@umd.edu
Forest Management Planning
for Marketing Forest Products
• Implementing wildlife habitat and timber management prescriptions
• The role of timber harvesters and foresters in timber management
• Harvesting options, especially for low-value products
• The attributes of a good logging job
• The basic do’s and don’t’s of forest product marketing
• The importance of sensibly written contracts
Implementing wildlife habitat and timber
management prescriptions
• What are your objectives for the woodland you own or manage?
• Commodity production (economic): timber, pulp, wood chips, firewood, etc.
• Public values (social): recreation, aesthetics, water quality, carbon
sequestration, etc.
• Environmental management (ecological): wildlife habitat, soil protection, etc.
• Whatever your goals, an active, timely, and well-planned program of
forest stand management is critical to ensure that you have a healthy
and productive forest
Implementing wildlife habitat and timber
management prescriptions
• What is a PRESCRIPTION?
• a site-specific plan describing the
nature and extent of the
silvicultural activities that will
occur on a free-growing stand to
facilitate the achievement of,
among others, social, economic,
and environmental objectives.
Implementing wildlife habitat and timber
management prescriptions
• Stand thinning is essential
• Replicates the processes of natural
selection and disturbance ecology
• Favors the development of superior trees
by eliminating suppressed, diseased, or
co-dominant trees that compete for
limited resources
Implementing wildlife habitat and timber
management prescriptions
• Stand thinning is essential
• The reduction in stem numbers allows
crown expansion to accelerate
biomass production by increasing
photosynthesis
Implementing wildlife habitat and timber
management prescriptions
• Diameter growth increases
with crown release
Implementing wildlife habitat and timber
management prescriptions
• Harvesting should be part of a written forest stewardship plan
• STEP ONE: Develop a forest stewardship plan
• Private consulting forester
• MD DNR county forester: develops forest stewardship plans, but will not
administer a commercial timber sale
• Coached planning through UM Extension: develop and write the basic
framework for a forest management plan in the online General Forestry
Course
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
• Whether or not you go through the General Forestry course, you
should hire a professional agent who represents your interests to
guide you through the process of selling timber.
• STEP TWO: Interview, select, and enter into a contract with a
consulting forester
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
Timber sale triangle
Results
Logger
Forester
Volume to be harvested
200 MBF
200 MBF
Average log price achieved from marketing
logs
$680/MBF
$700/MBF
Gross Revenue
$136,000
$140,000
40%
$140/MBF + 10%
Total Logging & Management Cost
$54,400
$42,000
Owners Net Revenue
$81,600
$98,000
Preparation of Timber Harvest Plan
NO
YES
Reforestation service provided
NO
YES
Spraying service provided
NO
YES
Tax preparation
NO
YES
Independent log accounting
NO
YES
Owners additionally insured on Loggers
liability policy
NO
YES
Logging performance bond held by
independent party for owners
NO
YES
Professional forester available for future
management questions
NO
YES
Total Logging & Management %
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
• DNR County Forester: writes your forest stewardship plan
• Stewardship plan development (subsidized):
•
•
•
•
•
•
Acres
<5
5-25
26-50
51-100
101-500
>501
Cost
$100
$200
$225
$250
$275
$300
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
• Entering into the contract
• Stewardship plan
• Services
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Measuring timber
Marking timber for sale
Soliciting bids
Collecting money
Planning roads and landings
Inspecting job site
Assessing damages
• Fees
•
•
•
•
Marking of timber
Sales
Compliance inspections
Hourly rate
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
Private forestry consultant fees
• 10-15% of sale
• Per diem
• Hourly
Enter into contract
• Stewardship plan
• Services
• Measuring and marking
trees
• Marketing timber
• Soliciting bids
• Collecting money
• Planning roads and landings
• Inspecting job site
compliance
• Assessing damage
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
• Selecting a private forestry consultant:
• word of mouth: talk to friends and neighbors
• interview potential consultants on the phone about:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
your forest stewardship objectives
their cost of services
ask about their prior experience
look for accreditation through SAF or ACF
make sure they’re licensed in Maryland as a registered forester
ask for references: talk to other customers
arrange to go to one of their prior job sites to inspect the work that was done
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
• Selecting a private forestry consultant:
• arrange for one or more of these foresters to visit you on your property and
make your selection based on:
•
•
•
•
•
How well the consulting forester understands your goals
How well the consulting forester can fulfill your goals
Charges a reasonable price for services
Has good references
Has a personality compatible with yours
• sign a written contract with the forester regarding the services and fees and
communicate with him/her regularly
• The forester will become a partner in the stewardship of your land
The role of timber harvesters and foresters in
timber management
• Private forestry consultant:
• Qualifications
• Maryland Professional Forester Licensing
•
•
•
•
Forestry degree
2 years experience
8 CFE credits every 2 years
5 references
• Certified Forester (SAF)
•
•
•
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Accredited forestry degree or equivalent
5 years experience
Comprehensive exam
20 CFE credits every year
Harvesting options:
choose a management system
Harvesting options:
choose a management system
Harvesting options:
choose a management system
Harvesting options:
choose a management system
Harvesting options:
choose a management system
Harvesting options:
choose a management system
Harvesting options:
choose a management system
Harvesting options:
Stumpage value: the price paid to the landowner for the standing trees
• Species: black cherry (BC), northern red oak (NRO), etc.
• Type of Product: fuelwood? pulpwood? sawtimber? veneer?
• Size: average diameter, uniformity
• Grade: % clear of defects
• Volume: MBF or tons
• Access to roads: how close is your forest to main haul routes?
• Proximity to markets: how close is your forest to mills?
• Market demand at the time: $/MBF or $/ton at time of harvest
West Virginia Timber Market Report
Harvesting options:
Species
Relative value
Black cherry
Extremely high
Black walnut
Very high
Red oak
Very high
White Ash
Very high
White Oak
High
Yellow-poplar
Medium-High
Loblolly pine
Medium
White pine
Medium
Virginia pine
Low
Harvesting options:
Product
Diameter (inches)
Sapling
1 - 4.9
Poletimber
5 - 10.9
Small Sawtimber
11 - 14.9
MediumSawtimber
15 - 17.9
Large Sawtimber
> 18
Veneer
> 18
The attributes of a good logging job
• Your forestry consultant has met with
the logger on-site before any timber
was cut to make sure the logging
contractor understands
• Where roads are to be located
• What trees are to be harvested
• What harvesting techniques are to be used
• Your forestry consultant visits the site
on a regular basis during the harvest to
make sure there are no major problems
The attributes of a good logging job
• Best management practices (BMPs) are
employed in all aspects of harvesting to
reduce sediment and nutrient run-off into
streams and wetlands
1. Haul roads & skid trails construction and
maintenance
2. Stream crossing structures and placement
3. Streamside management zones (SMZs)
buffer management
4. Landings and log decks placement and
management
5. Soil stabilization control mechanisms
A waterbar was installed to route water off of
the road bed and into the ditch to prevent
delivery of sediment to nearby streams.
The attributes of a good logging job
• Above all, regardless of how well your
consulting forester handles your timber
sale, it is ultimately the landowner who
is held responsible for ensuring that
harvesting complies with forest practice
regulations
• the logger’s performance bond is held as
insurance against any violations
• Best management practices (BMPs) can be
found at: www.dnr.state.md.us/forests
After the harvest, roads should be graded and
seeded to prevent post-harvest erosion and
sedimentation of stream.
The attributes of a good logging job:
aesthetics
The attributes of a good logging job:
advance regeneration
• Whatever type of harvest you
choose, the regeneration
potential of the future forest
is the most important
consideration.
The importance of sensibly written contracts
The importance of sensibly written contracts
Summary
• Sell timber when it will best accomplish your
goals, never because someone made you an offer
• Harvesting should be part of a written forest
stewardship plan.
• Carefully select a professional forester.
• Get payment in full before any trees are cut, if
possible.
• Get all agreements in writing
Lyle Almond
Forest Stewardship Educator
Wye Research and Education Center
410-827-8056 x125
lalmond@umd.edu