Forest Management Planning

Yogi Berra is quoted as saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”  Our job, as your Consulting Forester, is to get you where you want to go by providing you with the information needed to make knowledgeable and fully informed decisions that will impact the property for years, if not generations, to come.

To begin, all we need is a legal description of your property.  At no cost to you, we will make a cursory inspection of your property and then provide a written proposal outlining our recommendations, services and fees.  Typically, the foundation of a forest management plan begins with an inventory of your timber volumes and values.  This is often called a timber “cruise” and timber measurements are taken at a predetermined number of plots or points systematically disbursed throughout the forested areas of a property.  At each GPS guided plot location, individual tree measurements are taken at each plot and these measurements are recorded on handheld data recorders.  After the field work is completed, the raw data from the data recorder is downloaded for analysis.

While conducting the cruise, foresters will make observations concerning the status of the property’s stand (or timber) types, access, boundary lines and timber harvesting conditions.   Upon completion of timber inventory, the plan will be written and will include an estimate of the value of your timber, pertinent maps and aerial photographs, stand level forest management recommendations, and revenue and cost estimates associated with the implementation of the plan.  Only those activities approved by the landowner are implemented.