Below are answers to some common questions and statements landowners have as clients or potential clients.

Also, the bottom of the page offers definitions of some forestry specific terms and acronyms.

Questions

1) What if I (landowner) don't need the income from a timber sale?

You may not need the money now, but it could be saved for the future to help keep the farm, retirement, college education, healthcare costs, etc.

2) How do I (landowner) know if the trees in my woods are ready to be harvested and what they are worth?

Call a professional forester. Gregg Forest Services will do a walk through in your woods in a couple of hours and can give you a consultation.

3) I (landowner) don't want to cut trees because I am interested in helping out the wildlife.

If a forest is left to grow undisturbed then it will gradually become a beech-maple forest. This results in a single story woods with little or no understory and tree diversity and wildlife habitat is greatly diminished. Because of the loss of diversity and only a single overstory in the woods, very few wildlife would benefit from this type of management. The loss of diversity will also increase the risk of damage by insect or pathogens.

4) What if some of the trees are dying or stressed?

If you own over 8-10 acres of woods and have a lot of trees that look unhealthy, Gregg Forest Services highly recommends you to give a professional forester a call to look at your woods. It would be better to receive some income from these dying trees through a harvest rather than none at all. Signs of stress are sapling sprouts along the base of the tree and a small crown of the tree with leaves mainly near the center of the tree.

Definitions:

Carbon Sequestration

The removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for an extended amount of time. The carbon removed from the atmosphere can be stored in soil, organic matter, plants, or trees in different amounts.

Cost-share

Incentives offered by the county, state, or federal government to encourage tree planting or TSI.

DBH

Short for Diameter at Breast Height, a measuring tool to obtain the amount of board feet of timber in a tree.

Pole-sized Stands

Timber with an average DBH of 6-12".

Sealed Bid

A one-time offer to buy timber. The offer is submitted in an envelope. Other timber buyers do not know the offers submitted by other buyers until all of the bids are opened at the time the sale takes place.

Timber Basis

For a detailed definition, click here.

TSI

Acronym for "Timber Stand Improvement". Click here to return to the services page for a description.

Basal Area (BA)

This term is used by foresters to describe the density of trees in your woodland. If the basal area is too high your woods with stagnate and won't grow as vigorously as it could. If basal area is too low there is greater potential for wind damage and epicormic branches along the money-making stem of your trees.