Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:29:01 -0500
From: Dan McCarty
Subject: Logging Companies response to question
If one is selling timber, go, call and/or visit the website for the NC County Extension office. Ask/search for information on selling timber and managing timber.
The LAST thing I would do is sell timber to someone who asked us to sell out of the blue.
When we sold timber we had a timber agent who cruised our trees. A timber cruise looks at every single marketable tree to note it’s species and size. When we sold our timber we knew how many trees we had by species, how many of each diameter, and how much board feet. WE knew what we were selling. The timber agent also knows the market, or should, and can give you an idea about the value of the trees. There is a phone number to call and I think today a website, that will show you the value of timber sold in the previous quarters by region. This give you a clue on the value of your trees.
The timber agent also advertized the timber sale which as an auction to the highest bidder. The sale of the timber is done like buying/selling land or a house. There is a deed and conditions put no the timber harvest. Key acronym is BMP, Best Management Practices. A contract that specifies that the timber BMP is used obligates the logger to certain practices and protects the landowner.
When the trees were logged the timber agent helped manage the cutting and verified that the trees that were bought were cut and the the BMP was followed. The agent works on a percentage of the sale just like a real estate broker.
Smaller amounts of timber, say on 5-10 acres, might not interest a timber agent but go to the NC Extension Service for information. They can help. This is not a simple transaction, there are tax implications, and many people have not gotten the money they should have from selling their timber.
Later,
Dan