Selling Logs from your Property: a comprehensive educational symposium for landowners

Selling logs is one of the most important decisions you face as a landowner

Landowners log their property for a number of reasons. For some it’s the culmination of decades of planning and hard work to produce a valuable crop. For others it might be a liquidation of an asset to meet a sudden financial need. Still others might be undertaking a thinning operation to improve forest health and habitat.

Whatever your reason or goal, selling logs is a high-stakes endeavor, and mistakes can be costly–this is not a time to cut corners! Timber is a valuable financial asset, YOUR asset, that took decades to produce–don’t lose out on thousands of dollars by not getting a fair deal for your logs. Don’t expose yourself to unnecessary liability or be left “on the hook” for someone else’s mistake. Make sure your property looks how you want it to when the job is done and don’t risk unnecessary damage to your property that could take decades to restore.

Topics we’ll address include:

• Timber sale fundamentals
  • Selling methods (sealed bid vs. negotiation)
  • Types of sales (stumpage, lump sum, etc.)
  • Types of buyers (mill, broker, logger)
• Getting fair value for your logs
• Understanding your rights and responsibilities as a landowner
• What a forestry consultant can offer you
• Protecting yourself from liability
• Minimum harvest amount to be economically viable
• Inventory and marketing for different forest products
• How to select a logger
• Permitting requirements and harvest regulations
• Excise taxes, current use taxation, and cost share programs
• Logging roads and operational logistics
• Silvicultural alternatives
• What log buyers look for

Speakers will include:

Consulting foresters, experienced landowners, log buyers, loggers, and representatives from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Revenue (DOR)