Is it worth it to hire a forester?
Landowners considering a timber harvest ask themselves is it worth hiring a forester? There are many reasons why the answer to this question should be 'yes.' A forester will evaluate your woods according to a range of values. People value woods for many reasons. It may be for their beauty and peacefulness. It may be as a home to birds, animals and fish. It may be as a buffer to keep water clean. It may be as a place to enjoy outdoor family activities, such as going for walks, camping and hunting. Hiring a forester is also smart if a landowner is primarily concerned with maximizing income today and in the future.
Income with and without hiring a forester
One way of measuring the value of hiring a forester is to compare how much income a landowner would earn with and without the services of a forester. There is a big difference in how a logger chooses trees to cut and how a forester chooses trees. A logger chooses trees according to their size. A typical contract would call for a logger to cut all tree larger than 11" in diameter at breast height. This is known as a diameter-limit harvest. A forester will choose trees selectively with an eye for the long term. Some large trees might be cut, but other large trees would be left. Removing less vigorous or less valuable trees will give stronger, more valuable trees room to grower faster and become more valuable. This is known as a selection method. Various studies have shown that a diameter-limit harvest nets the landowner the most income on the first harvest, but the yields worsen over time. A selection system yields less initially, but produces significantly more income as time goes on.
One study of a 40-year-old stand of oak and hickory trees in southern Missouri compared two stands: one an unmanaged stand that was cut using diameter limit and one a stand managed over time using a series of thinnings before its final harvest with a seed tree cut. At the outset, the cash flow generated by an 11-inch diameter-limit harvest was $115.23 per acre, while thinning returned only $78.06 per acre. This was a difference of $37.17 per acre—an attractive proposition if you’re only looking at the short-term gain (see table below).However, if all the standing timber in both stands is harvested 23 years later, a significant difference in values comes to light. The value of the diameter-limit cut stand in real dollars adjusted for inflation is $378.23 per acre. On the other hand, the properly managed stand, where two thinnings were made prior to the final harvest, is valued at $579.05 per acre, a difference of more than $200.00 per acre. This difference represents the premium in large, high-quality timber from sound forest management and the equity lost through highgrading.
So, the way to maximize income is not to harvest as many trees as you can today, but to tend your woods like a garden, weeding out the bad and giving the good room to thrive. A forester knows how to do this.
One study of a 40-year-old stand of oak and hickory trees in southern Missouri compared two stands: one an unmanaged stand that was cut using diameter limit and one a stand managed over time using a series of thinnings before its final harvest with a seed tree cut. At the outset, the cash flow generated by an 11-inch diameter-limit harvest was $115.23 per acre, while thinning returned only $78.06 per acre. This was a difference of $37.17 per acre—an attractive proposition if you’re only looking at the short-term gain (see table below).However, if all the standing timber in both stands is harvested 23 years later, a significant difference in values comes to light. The value of the diameter-limit cut stand in real dollars adjusted for inflation is $378.23 per acre. On the other hand, the properly managed stand, where two thinnings were made prior to the final harvest, is valued at $579.05 per acre, a difference of more than $200.00 per acre. This difference represents the premium in large, high-quality timber from sound forest management and the equity lost through highgrading.
So, the way to maximize income is not to harvest as many trees as you can today, but to tend your woods like a garden, weeding out the bad and giving the good room to thrive. A forester knows how to do this.
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