We've known our property was harvested for timber, we just never knew exactly how long ago. Evidence of 10' wide lanes meandering throughout the property, large stumps and discarded tops. Well, we now know it was 9 years ago by a small, family run lumber business. Their Forester sent me a letter asking if we would be interested in an evaluation of the health of the property and the prospect of doing another cutting.
We know that when done right, pulling mature trees out can actually improve the health of the forest over all. We know you don't have to clear cut every tree in an area to do that. We know that with existing lanes that are usable there will be fewer trees sacrificed getting to the desired ones. We know it costs money to bring the equipment in and hire the manpower to harvest the trees, and they are trying to make money.
We know the lumber business can be shady. We know that everything is in short supply and going up in price.
All that, but we don't know what is a fair price to expect for all the above.
The Forester went out today and walked our 30 acres. He says we have plenty of White Oak, Red Oak, Hickory, and Poplar. He would not take anything smaller than 20" at the base. He believes there is 100 to 110 poles to take. We talked on the phone for an hour, going over his methodology for selecting which trees he paints for cutting, how his company works, and how long from start to finish we should expect the process to take. He estimates cutting would not actually take place this year.
So, now that I've got you this far, I want to hear from those that have experience with this kind of thing and how much $$ did you end up taking for doing nothing more than signing a document giving permission to a business to cut down and haul off part of your property?
We know that when done right, pulling mature trees out can actually improve the health of the forest over all. We know you don't have to clear cut every tree in an area to do that. We know that with existing lanes that are usable there will be fewer trees sacrificed getting to the desired ones. We know it costs money to bring the equipment in and hire the manpower to harvest the trees, and they are trying to make money.
We know the lumber business can be shady. We know that everything is in short supply and going up in price.
All that, but we don't know what is a fair price to expect for all the above.
The Forester went out today and walked our 30 acres. He says we have plenty of White Oak, Red Oak, Hickory, and Poplar. He would not take anything smaller than 20" at the base. He believes there is 100 to 110 poles to take. We talked on the phone for an hour, going over his methodology for selecting which trees he paints for cutting, how his company works, and how long from start to finish we should expect the process to take. He estimates cutting would not actually take place this year.
So, now that I've got you this far, I want to hear from those that have experience with this kind of thing and how much $$ did you end up taking for doing nothing more than signing a document giving permission to a business to cut down and haul off part of your property?
