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Post by terrifictom on Jan 8, 2024 11:26:46 GMT -6
I have owned my land for 20 years. It was select cut the year before I bought it. It is not in any forest programs. I am thinking it needs the canopy opened up again. Never did any thing like this before, where do I start. Do I get a DNR forester to do a free assessment 1st ? Do I hire a private forester? Is the process the same in every state or is it different state to state? I probably have about 25 acres of woods. Some of my woods have huge boulders that might make timber cutting difficult. Any help or info you guys have would be helpful.
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Post by nhmountains on Jan 8, 2024 12:05:04 GMT -6
Tom, I met first with the county forester. He can tell you if you have marketable timber and provide a list of foresters. I strongly recommend a forester with what I’ve been through. They’ll put your timber out to bid with several loggers or mills. They’ll be there if you run into issues with your town. In my case, the logger I would’ve gone with if I didn’t hire a forester gave a bid that was 1/2 the amount of the loggers we chose. You’ll need to make a lot of decisions that they can help you with. But, I’d start with your county forester. They are free.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 8, 2024 12:20:13 GMT -6
In MN I just called the local DNR office to see if they have any foresters available that could walk my property and give free logging advice. I also brought in a private forester to get his advice, and both agreed that the property should be logged, but the species and volume aren't likely enough to generate much interest. The private forester wasn't interested in getting involved.
My goal was simply to improve the deer hunting, so it was important to me to remove as many junk trees as possible along with the black oaks that were dying from oak wilt. I found a local logger who worked on a neighboring property and he did a great job. He left the white/bur oaks as I requested and took out the black oaks and misc species.
If your property is in an area with lots of woods, you likely have more logger options than I did and that competition should help you get a higher price.
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Post by wiscbooners89 on Jan 8, 2024 13:51:01 GMT -6
When we did our clear cut 10 years ago, we went with Lee Herek out of Elroy. He's a consulting forester and he was a life saver for us. We bounced ideas off of him and he gave us feedback both good and bad. We've talked to him multiple times since doing the clear cut and he's always responded and been great. Highly recommend him.
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 8, 2024 14:49:19 GMT -6
We don’t have a county forester but only state foresters. I hired a consulting forester who is also an avid deer hunter. He does my forest plan ( for a fee) which saves on taxes.
He had been a state forester.
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Post by badgerfowl on Jan 8, 2024 15:30:02 GMT -6
When we did our clear cut 10 years ago, we went with Lee Herek out of Elroy. He's a consulting forester and he was a life saver for us. We bounced ideas off of him and he gave us feedback both good and bad. We've talked to him multiple times since doing the clear cut and he's always responded and been great. Highly recommend him. Is he a private forester?
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Post by wiscbooners89 on Jan 8, 2024 17:05:48 GMT -6
When we did our clear cut 10 years ago, we went with Lee Herek out of Elroy. He's a consulting forester and he was a life saver for us. We bounced ideas off of him and he gave us feedback both good and bad. We've talked to him multiple times since doing the clear cut and he's always responded and been great. Highly recommend him. Is he a private forester? I believe so
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Post by Bob on Jan 9, 2024 10:09:39 GMT -6
I had a talk with a private forester a couple months back and talked about what I had. He told me for the types of trees I have, it's not even worth moving equipment to my 40 to harvest it. I also asked about firewood value of my ash, and he put that near zero as well. Also found out EAB has popped up ten miles away from me.
So I have the green light to whack anything I want on my place. Sucks on one hand there's no timber money to be had. Also very freeing to know I have no opportunity costs to habitat improvements. So I'm gonna be whackin' till I can't whack no more.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 9, 2024 11:03:10 GMT -6
I had a talk with a private forester a couple months back and talked about what I had. He told me for the types of trees I have, it's not even worth moving equipment to my 40 to harvest it. I also asked about firewood value of my ash, and he put that near zero as well. Also found out EAB has popped up ten miles away from me. So I have the green light to whack anything I want on my place. Sucks on one hand there's no timber money to be had. Also very freeing to know I have no opportunity costs to habitat improvements. So I'm gonna be whackin' till I can't whack no more. I learned the same thing in 2013. Never looked back when it comes to chainsaw work. The forester did tell me last year when he was renewing my 2c plan that my burr oaks have some value. Apparently the bottom 8' or so can be used for whisky barrel staves. I told him I'd be leaving them alone, not worth the hassle of getting someone in to drop and chop them, and I'm not going to do it either
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 9, 2024 12:40:07 GMT -6
I was lucky that I found a logger who had customers interested in the "other" trees (cottonwood, elm, basswood, willow, etc.) and that I was able to get a little money while dramatically improving my cover with logging.
My friend's family made about $2k/acre logging their woods that had a bunch of high value bur oak, so there can be money made with logging if you have the right trees. If you don't have the right trees or enough of them, you need a little luck to find an interested logger. I'd still talk to them though since they might be interested if they have an unexpected slowdown with future jobs.
The one thing I will say about loggers is that they can have a bigger positive habitat impact in a couple weeks than you or I could have in years of random hinge cuts here and there.
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Post by nhmountains on Jan 9, 2024 14:58:25 GMT -6
I was lucky that I found a logger who had customers interested in the "other" trees (cottonwood, elm, basswood, willow, etc.) and that I was able to get a little money while dramatically improving my cover with logging. My friend's family made about $2k/acre logging their woods that had a bunch of high value bur oak, so there can be money made with logging if you have the right trees. If you don't have the right trees or enough of them, you need a little luck to find an interested logger. I'd still talk to them though since they might be interested if they have an unexpected slowdown with future jobs. The one thing I will say about loggers is that they can have a bigger positive habitat impact in a couple weeks than you or I could have in years of random hinge cuts here and there. You’re spot on Ben with how quickly they can change the landscape. I feel the forester is important as the go between to deal with the hiccups along the way. My guy has been there every step of the way.
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 9, 2024 18:27:32 GMT -6
I had a talk with a private forester a couple months back and talked about what I had. He told me for the types of trees I have, it's not even worth moving equipment to my 40 to harvest it. I also asked about firewood value of my ash, and he put that near zero as well. Also found out EAB has popped up ten miles away from me. So I have the green light to whack anything I want on my place. Sucks on one hand there's no timber money to be had. Also very freeing to know I have no opportunity costs to habitat improvements. So I'm gonna be whackin' till I can't whack no more. Which direction from your place was EAB found. I have an ash swamp but the beavers might flood and kill the ash before the borers.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 9, 2024 19:03:54 GMT -6
My logger told me ash was worth more here since it was hard to find with the EAB.
Unfortunately, I had none to cut.
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Post by Bob on Jan 9, 2024 21:44:59 GMT -6
I had a talk with a private forester a couple months back and talked about what I had. He told me for the types of trees I have, it's not even worth moving equipment to my 40 to harvest it. I also asked about firewood value of my ash, and he put that near zero as well. Also found out EAB has popped up ten miles away from me. So I have the green light to whack anything I want on my place. Sucks on one hand there's no timber money to be had. Also very freeing to know I have no opportunity costs to habitat improvements. So I'm gonna be whackin' till I can't whack no more. Which direction from your place was EAB found. I have an ash swamp but the beavers might flood and kill the ash before the borers. press release: www.mda.state.mn.us/emerald-ash-borer-found-cass-countymap: content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MNMDA/2023/10/11/file_attachments/2643704/Cass%20EAB%20map.png
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 10, 2024 5:11:30 GMT -6
I am barely out of that area. It was also found 5 miles from where I live.
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