Do you have a forest management plan?

Many forest landowners do not have any type of forest management plan. While forest management plans may not be necessary for the owners of small acreages, most forest landowners will find the plans to be a great benefit. While I have no exact figure in mind as far as the minimum number of acres, forested tracts that are 40 acres or less generally do not need a full-blown management plan. However, the owner should still keep adequate records of activities for tax purposes.

Larger forests need a management plan. The management plan should begin with a statement of your goals and objectives for owning the land and for keeping it in forest. Examples of goals are: Maximum return on investment; To provide wildlife habitat and a place for the family to hunt; To provide an opportunity for a family business and retreat. Most often, there is a combination of these goals. Your plan should state your goals. These goals will influence your decisions concerning management practices.

Most of you will want to employ a professional forester to draw up your management plans. These plans should include such things as goals and objectives, stand age and type maps, aerial photographs, an inventory, and a list of management recommendations for practices such as controlled burning, timber stand improvement, timber sales, site preparation, and regeneration through natural means or through tree planting. Foresters normally charge for the management plan and then work on commission for timber sales and marketing. They charge fees for landline maintenance, controlled burning, tree planting, etc.

The inventory is commonly called a "cruise". Your forester will begin with topographical and ownership maps, as well as aerial photographs. He will prepare a set of maps known as stand age and type maps. The maps will clearly delineate the different types of forests and their relative ages, and will also include features such as ponds, roads, open fields, streams, and houses.

The inventory will be derived from a series of "plots" or areas of sample measurement. Foresters normally measure a large number of 1/5 or even 1/10 acre plots and convert the sample measurements to 100 percent for an "estimate" of the number and types of each class of trees. Such classes would include Loblolly Pine, Red Oak, White Oak, Ash, and mixed hardwoods, and is further divided into diameter classes such as 8, 10, 12 inches DBH, (or diameter at breast height), measured at 4.5 feet. It is also categorized in product classes such as pine pulpwood, pine chip-n-saw, and pine saw logs, as well as hardwood saw logs and hardwood pulpwood. The inventory will include the volumes of timber of each species and even tell you how much of the volume is in each diameter class of each species of trees.

A "Stand" is the forestry term for any area occupied by forest and differs by the size and species of trees present. The stand map shows "generally" what types and sizes of trees are in each area. Examples are Pine Pulpwood, Mixed Pine Saw log/Pine Saplings, etc. The map would also indicate the general age of the stand, such as 40-60 years old. The maps will let one know at a glance how many acres are in each type of trees, their approximate size, etc.

Stand age and type maps are then the basis for management recommendations. Sizeable forests are also divided into "compartments." This will allow one to schedule management practices in a timely manner across the forest over a period of years. These compartment maps will be very valuable to you as you try to account for your annual activities and explain them to your tax advisor and accountant.

Remember, the stand age and type map will show generalities, the cruise will estimate volumes of merchantable timber by species, class and size.

Recommendations for management practices generally cover a period of about 10 years. The recommendations may include that some timber be harvested, but maybe not. You may still sell some timber however, if you wish. Financial considerations often determine and/or regulate timber sales. That is the beauty of timber as compared to other commodities such as beef cattle. One can hold onto his or her trees until the markets are more favorable. The one exception is in the first thinning of pine plantations. Pine pulpwood is a low value product (relative to saw timber). Therefore, the decision on when to thin should be based on what is best for the future production of sawtimber, and not on price.

The photo below shows a pine stand a full year after a first thinning. As you can see, trees are small and the value is low. Current prices run from 5 to 7 dollars per ton for first thinning wood. The reason for thinning is to maintain a good growth rate and to advance the stand to the next highest product class, which in pine chip-n-saw. If one waits too long to make the first thinning, growth will slow and the stand will be more suspect to the attack of insects and disease. Once pine plantations are ready to thin, you only have a window of two to three years in which you need to act. Waiting on a better price is not advisable. Try to get the best price you can, but more importantly, try to get the best operator you can to conduct your harvest. First thinnings are seldom "marked" in the sense that each tree desired for removal is marked with a paint gun. Pine plantations are now commonly thinned under a practice called "cutter select". Rows are removed (every third, fourth or even fifth) and other trees in the remaining rows are selected for harvest.

If you decide to sell larger timber, your forester would mark the trees for sale under a prescription mutually agreed upon in advance. Sealed bid sales will most often bring you the best price. In some cases, particularly when the landowner will want to exercise a great deal of control on additional practices and considerations, a negotiated sale may be in your best interest. Pine plantation first thinnings are often handled as negotiated sales to insure a large degree control over the operation. However, a lump sum sealed bid sale will bring the most revenue on sales of larger timber.

As you can see, there is more to being a forest landowner than selling some trees now and then. The prudent landowner will want a written management plan that will guide him and his forester through all the decisions that must be made. Present actions in a forest can affect future revenues for decades to come. A management plan can keep you on tract, provide a basis for record keeping, and will guide your heirs after you are gone. I hope each of you will consider your need for a management plan.