Tips for Woodland Owners Before Harvesting, Selling Your Timber

If you’re a woodland owner, you may be thinking about harvesting some of your timber to bring in a little extra income. But there are several things to consider before you do.

“You first need to know what you have in your woods and whether or not it is biologically and or economically mature,” says Perry Seitzinger, owner of Seitzinger Forestry and a Consulting Forester based in Putnam County.

He recommends reaching out to a DNR district forester or hiring Consulting Forester—like himself—to help you out.

“The first step in selling timber is getting those trees marked,” he says. “It’s important to know what your goals and objectives are. Once we figure out what the goals and objectives are, I can mark those trees and advertise them for sale for you.”

He also says you should have a legal agreement in place with your logging company before they begin.

“You always want to have a written contract before your timber sale that protects your interests, protects your property, and spells out how your land is to be treated during the harvest,” he says. “In addition, once the harvest is completed, the agreement should identify what condition the property is to be left in. The contract should also spell out the terms of the sales, such as the purchase price, the length of the contract, and the payment terms.”

Once the contact is in place, Seitzinger recommends hiring someone to monitor the logging process.

“Somebody like myself—a consulting forester—that can come out, check in on the logging process, make sure that your property is being treated correctly, the timber is being harvested in a way that it protects your residual trees, and makes sure your woodland property is in good shape for the next timber harvest.”

For more tips from Perry Seitzinger, Consulting Forester and Owner of Seitzinger Forestry, check out the full conversation below with Hoosier Ag Today’s C.J. Miller.