*December Highlight*

What Can a Timber Sale do for You?

All sorts of things! Landowners sell standing timber for a number of different reasons, with varying outcomes.

For some, the economic return from a sale is the goal as it can help pay for Jr.’s college tuition, replacement of the broken furnace, or allow for that special vacation.

Those who are interested in long-term management for timber, frequently work with a forester to identify crop trees – those with the best potential to increase in value. By strategically marking and removing some trees in a thinning, the best are left to enjoy greater amounts of sunlight, water, and nutrient resources. In such a thinning growth is stimulated; significantly increasing the return to the landowner later on down the road.

By working with a knowledgeable forester on a regenerative harvest, a landowner is likely to 1) vastly increase his/her profits (even after payment for the forester's service) AND 2) encourage regrowth by more desireable species - which again enhances future value.

Revenue from timber doesn’t have to be the only result of a harvest. Landowners can take advantage of having mechanized equipment on their property to do a number of jobs – from putting in a road and gate to hauling an old junk car away. Likewise, the creation of well placed skid roads (used to move wood from the forest where it’s cut to the landing where it gets put on trucks) often results in an excellent system of trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or snowmobiling.

Altering vegetation by harvesting wood can also have a big impact on wildlife. Depending on the type of silvicultural prescription (course of action recommended by a forester with the goals of the landowner in mind) being implemented, timber harvesting can dramatically enhance habitat conditions by increasing the types of food and cover available to wildlife.

Judicious thinning around oaks can increase acorn production - good news for a host of animals including bear and flying squirrels. Clearing all overstory vegetation from a 2 or 3 acre area is likely to result in a flush of herbaceous growth – prime brood habitat for turkey and grouse, and then as the woods begin to regenerate - good browse for moose and deer.

Another benefit of timber harvesting can be the enhancement of aesthetic value for the landowner. Creating scenic vistas – the view of a pond or stream, an outlook into the distance, a clearing around an old stone wall – these can all add significantly to an owner’s appreciation of the landscape.

Timber harvesting doesn’t have to be just the cutting of wood to make landowners and loggers rich (which is a good thing since most of them don’t get that way doing so). Harvesting – particularly when done in conjunction with forestry - has the potential to enrich both a landowner’s knowledge of and connection to his/her land.

It’s important to remember: Just because timber is harvested does NOT mean that forestry is involved! It is quite possible to harvest timber and not have it be part of a sound forestry practice. Land clearing, high-grading (i.e., taking the valuable trees and leaving the trees of little or no value), and other random cutting events may all be considered harvesting, BUT NOT FORESTRY.

So keep in mind; while timber harvesting can offer many benefits, it also has the power to create some pretty dire ecological conditions if not done responsibly, including:

• Damaging habitat conditions by removing all of a particular food source in an area.
• Creating too much “edge” habitat resulting in a dearth of forest interior – a structural feature on which certain forest communities depend.
• Letting so much light reach streams/water bodies that they increase in temperature – significantly decreasing oxygen content and endangering fish and other aquatic life.
• Taking out too much decaying wood – robbing wildlife of important den sites & and removing nutrient rich matter crucial for the health of forest soils.
• Creating prime conditions for the establishment of invasive species – displacing native plants and potentially destroying native ecosystems.
• Compacting soils or causing soil erosion - severely compromising the future productivity of the site.

Remember - actions and decisions have consequences that can be far reaching. The best decision is likely to be an informed decision! For more information consult your local forester.