Why Should I Harvest My Timber?

As a buyer for the log and lumber industry for going on 35 years  I have run into countless landowners that either don't manage their timber, thus causing the mature trees to eventually topple over, or the property owner calls a sawmill, sells them their trees and the forest is then literally destroyed!

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Falling timber due to lack of management

I was put in charge of handling most of the Boy scout and Girl scout camps in Michigan a number of years ago and I can tell you that by doing a professional thinning... just taking the trees that should come out, I was able to cut these camps two times and a couple of them three time in the past 25 years, leaving a future stand every time! How did I do this? By not being greedy and using common sense. Believe it or not, the forest will tell you what needs to be done, that is, if you have a trained eye and a conscience to go with it.

Back when I first started working in the forest, when it was a new endeavor (I was a journeyman block layer prior), I was fortunate enough to be trained, in my opinion, by one of the best third generation grade and veneer sawmill owners in Michigan! I could not have found anyone better to teach me what and how to look for quality and defects and anything else that would tell me the value of the trees. The only thing missing from day one was forestry management and the condition of the woodlot after completion of the job. 

I have much more valuable information concerning timber harvests that I would like to share with you. This will be in my next post coming soon.