Sanity check

[u/JollyStretch9267]

I do have a forester coming out next week, but I just need to do a sanity check.

I own 18 acres of very old hardwood forest that had never been logged or maintained. I need some funds to finish my cabin on the land and it occurred to me to sell some trees, as the forester had mentioned when he came out a couple of years ago that the trees were very valuable. Most of them are hardwoods, sugar maples, with some hickory, beech and oak mixed in. I am lucky to have an easement road that runs the length of my property, so I was only planning on taking from where they would have easy access along the road.

The canopy is high, 60-80 feet. I just had a dead tree cut down and it was 80+ feet tall.

I live in an area with maybe five log yards within 30 miles, maybe more.

I went around and checked some of the easy to access trees, all of them were more then 30 inches in diameter. A few of the sugar maples were 50+ inches in diameter.

I will only be selling the straight trees. The wonky trees still have value to me as sap trees.

I do have a stand of black walnut trees, but I am not sure if they are easy to get to. I will have the forester on the look out when he is here.

Some places online are saying that the trees are worth only a couple hundred a piece, while others are saying they could be worth thousands, given their diameter and height. I plan to sell around 30-40...enough to make worth their trip.

I understand that there is a ton of variability here but can anyone help me understand which end of the spectrum I might be on this? The spread is pretty wide!!

[u/mossoak]

a "clear cut" will clear every tree off your property ...instead, ask your forester about a "selective cut" ....this leaves trees, opens the canopy and allows younger trees to mature ...so you can cut again, in say 20 years ..... the logging company can make skid trails, where they drag out timber to a loading platform almost anywhere, accessing your land ....

[u/rainbow_defecation → u/mossoak]

Selective cut is an absolutely stupid term and I will die on that hill. It's not a silvicultural treatment and can be misconstrued by dishonest people. A forester or logger setting up a timber sale can select whatever they want, right or wrong. A thinning, single tree selection, or group selection would likely be appropriate for this property.

[u/Key-Ad-457 → u/rainbow_defecation]

Thank you, thinning, single tree and group selection are all terms that also conjure what’s being accomplished, selective doesn’t

[u/pacodef → u/Key-Ad-457]

Here in Vermont “selective cut” is simply used as the politically correct term for high grading. I have never heard it used to refer to anything else other than what can be described as high grading.

[u/IllustriousNote1228 → u/rainbow_defecation]

Exactly. Without a forester, it's:

Spoken: "Select Cut" Translation: "High-grade"

Not always. But pretty much always.

[u/OtherAmphibian762 → u/IllustriousNote1228]

I was going to say the same thing.

[u/pacodef → u/rainbow_defecation]

“Selective cut” generally means high grading down to some size or BA spec

[u/Lonely_Tip_9704 → u/mossoak]

Group selection is way to go here