Private Landowners

PRIVATE LANDOWNERS

Your timber is a growing asset. Decisions about managing and harvesting your timber will have long lasting impacts. Forest landowners need to carry out a sequential series of decisions to maximize the benefits of forest land ownership. The first step should be a formal evaluation of landowner goals and objectives. Goals are the driving force for activities on a forest. By ranking goals, the landowner can determine what is more important: long-term financial returns; aesthetics; wildlife; or immediate financial returns. Many times separate goals will complement each other. When goals conflict, the landowner must choose which is more important. After forest landowners evaluate their goals they can begin to define objectives. Objectives are the specific actions that lead to listed goals. Should timber harvest be the desired objective, then the following sequence should be initiated.

1. Determine Property Boundaries

Before any harvest can begin, determine ownership and property lines. If property lines have not been identified by a state licensed surveyor, hire one to identify your property boundaries. At times it is possible to reach an agreement with an adjacent landowner as to the location of property lines, without the cost of hiring a surveyor. In such cases, the two parties should execute a cutting line agreement.

SAMPLE CUTTING LINE AGREEMENT

2. Timber Cruise and Timber Appraisal

An estimate of the volume and quality of timber will help you know what you have got to sell. An appraisal will insure that you are getting fair market value for your timber. The appraisal will help establish the best markets for the timber, evaluate logging, road building, harvest taxes, and other costs; such as reforestation, slash disposal, permits, right of ways, and management fees. Landowners that do not get a complete independent cruise and appraisal are often taking advantage of by unscrupulous operators.

SAMPLE TIMBER CRUISE REPORT
SAMPLE TIMBER APPRAISAL REPORT

3. State and Local Harvest Permits

Depending on location, state and local regulations, and the presence of sensitive environmental issues, the permitting process may take 30 days to 6 months. At times environmental impact statements must be prepared, technical reports from wildlife biologist, hydrologist, and soil scientist are sometimes required.

4. Right of Way Agreements

The most cost effective route of hauling timber from private land to public highway should be determined. If it is determined that the haul route goes over other private land, then a right of way agreement needs to be executed. Typically these agreements are temporary in nature and only pertain to the hauling of commercial timber products.

SAMPLE RIGHT OF WAY AGREEMENT

5. Lump Sum Timber Sale or Log Sale ?

After evaluating the timber cruise and appraisal, a decision must be made to determine if the highest return to the landowner would be to sell the timber as a Lump Sum Timber Sale, or to sell the logs on the open market. A Lump Sum Timber Sale is the process in which companies bid, in the form of a mail-in auction, for a predetermined stand of trees. The highest bidder is then
responsible for the removal of the trees under conditions that are set in the Timber Sale Contract. A Timber Sale Prospectus is prepared and mailed to possible bidders. The advantages of this procedure is that the landowner knows what they will receive for the timber ( the amount of the lump sum bid ), and will have a minimal amount of day to day supervision of the contract. Typically timber stands that have substantial volume and quality do best when sold as a Lump Sum Timber Sale.

SAMPLE TIMBER SALE PROSPECTUS
SAMPLE TIMBER SALE AGREEMENT

When the quantity and quality of the timber is not sufficient to draw at least 5-7 bids, then there is a good possibility that the landowner is not getting the true market value of the timber. The sale of logs to different vendors, by species and quality, is the next best option to the landowner. Contractors are hired to build roads, cut and log the trees, then logs are sold direct to local sawmills and export yards. The landowner will not know what the final net revenues are until all logs are shipped, revenues received, and expenses paid. This process demands more on site supervision to insure that the contractors are maximizing log value.

SAMPLE ROAD BUILDING CONTRACT
SAMPLE LOGGING CONTRACT
SAMPLE CUTTING CONTRACT

6. Consulting Forester

A consulting forester works for the private forest landowner as a professional representative. As professional consultants, they will evaluate your forest with your goals and objectives in mind. For owners not familiar with the timber industry, the use of a consulting forester is highly recommended.
At Riffe Lake Timber we have served clients in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Properties have ranged from 10 acres to 6,000 acres. We have specialized in managing timber harvesting on difficult terrain. Working closely with state and local agencies, competent professional loggers, cutters, and road builders; we are able to maximize the net return to the landowner and minimizing the risk to environmentally sensitive land.

SAMPLE RIFFE LAKE TIMBER WORK AGREEMENT