MarinePride

I have almost 40 acres of land that is rolling hills and gulleys, typical southwest VA topography. About half of the land is what I would consider mature, not much light makes it to the ground because of the thick canopy and that detracts from the new forage that just doesn't grow in these thick areas. I'm thinking about trying to get some of the trees logged to open up the area.

I don't know what type of trees I have, some pines, what type I don't know. Some hardwoods, some oaks, which I will not allow to be cut, and some others. I know that my first step is to consult a forester, but I don't want any logging until deer season is over for the year. That will be in January, so I have some time to get enough info. I just wonder how much I could get per acre? I'm looking for ballpark figures.

I realize that the money is just one benefit of getting my land logged. I would only allow about 20 acres to be clear cut, so I'm even wondering if a logging co would be interested in that?

Obviously I don't know anything about timber so I'm at the mercy of this board, any advice or your experiences would be appreciated and thanks.

timbercruiser

Not seeing the land it is almost impossible to give any kind of approximate value to your timber. Call your local county forester and ask what kind of help they can give. There's different regulations by the states as to what they will let their foresters actually do. While a 40 acre tract is smaller than most like to mess with, having good access roads, good terrain to work on and what kind of timber you have will determine what you can get for the timber. If the county forester can not help give a cruise value of the timber you will probably need to hire a consultant forester to help with your timber sale. Have a clear understanding with the consultant as to the percentage rate of payment and specifically what you will get for their services.

Criggster

I can tell you what my neighbor sold his for about a month ago. It is located in Russell Co. near Richlands, VA. He has a mixture of popular, oaks, and a few cherries and walnuts. For about 200 acres they are getting around $90,000 ($450/acre). He had the VA forest service survey the area and several loggers bid on it. They went with the highest bidder. Keep in mind that the oaks will be worth more than the popular and other softwood species.

MarinePride

After a bit of calling around, I was able to find a private consulting forester and his services are $250/day. After the initial shock of hearing that, I got some info from him and he told me to call the VA Dept. of Forestry and get as much free info as possible. I know that I'll eventually need a private forester to handle the bidding contracts and other stuff so that I don't get scammed by the logging company.

I guess for about $6/acre, the VDOF will write me up a management plan. The one thing that I'm finding out is that this is a slow process because the VDOF forester that covers my area is away for 2 weeks fighting a wildfire in WA state. I realize that patience is important and that clearcutting the land will benefit the deer when the new growth appears.

cales0822

Be very careful who you choose. I have seen the damage a group of guys did for a company that made pallets. I was leasing the land to hunt and i have never been so mad before 60 ft trees with 8 ft of straight trunk taken out and the rest laying on the ground. the land owner was wanting the same thing you are looking for and got the done over good, along with me. it was the sickest sight i have ever seen in the woods. Im not a tree hugger love to burn wood but thats not my idea of having extra fire wood. They were buying by the tree and shorted him at least 100 trees. be on you guard....

Robertesq1

I hired a pvt forester to cull 20 acres. He picked out the trees with game mgt in mind ie keep the mast producers like oaks and hickorys and cull the maples pines swamp oaks (red) and others that made room for the ones left. He wrote the contract visited the site during cutting and acted as my eyes and ears. Result: they vastly improved the mast production on the property, they ended up suring up the timber roads, putting in culverts and some shale and I got $5000 to boot. If you are doing it just for the money its worth having a forester because they know the value and they know who and what to look for. If you are doing it fo game management a forester will know what trees to keep and make sure the logger doesn't just take the cream. They also make them cut trees down and grind or cut them up and mine even removed the stumps and refuse as well.

MarinePride

I was walking the timber today, not knowing how much the trees are worth, but they sure are big. It has taken some of them a long time to grow. I didn't even think about the loggers leaving the land in a "sorry state". As I've already confirmed, I don't know jack about timbering and how the loggers do things. A forester is definitely in the future. I'm planning to have this done after deer season or January of '07. Also, what guarantee do I have that the trees will grow back? I cut some smaller ones in February, to open up some shooting lanes, and some of them havn't grown anything back. These are pines that havn't regenerated. Some of the hardwoods are growing shoots of 3 or more and have been ate by something already.

One thing for sure is that there is not much of anything growing for the deer and turkey with the thick canopy I currently have.

timbercruiser

7 months isn't nearly enough time to get an idea of timber regeneration. I don't know what kind of mature pines you have, but remember that pines cast their seeds in the fall and unless there is scarification of the soil when the seeds touch down most of them will be consumed by wildlife. That is probably where the seeds went. Robertesq must have had some prime value timber to have the extra benefits he listed, it isn't common in my area and the cost was probably taken from the stumpage value. I guarantee you don't get all that for free. Southern yellow pine lumberis very low in price now, it set a 25 year low in price a couple of weeks ago.

Robertesq1

The trees the wanted were mostly hardwoods red oak maple and the like. I negotiated with them regarding the work on roads and clean up. It was a local (upstate NY timber co) who values their reputation and wants to be invited back when I do other areas of the property.

MDManiac

Roberts, where are you in NY?