Consulting foresters help landowners manage their property by offering various land-related services, such as timber sale management, controlled burns, forestry management plans, among others.
A hired forester works for you and your interest, not the timber buyer. They serve are your insider into the timber marketplace, for what could potentially be one of your larger financial transactions. So, you should seek out the best one that you can.
Depending on the service you’re after, will dictate the sorts of questions you might need to ask a consulting forester. Below are some initial questions you should ask any private consulting forester about your upcoming timber sale.
Some follow up questions sort of piggy back off of others. I listed all of them individually for clarity’s sake.
1. Are My Forestry Goals Reasonable?
Generally speaking, you’ll have an idea of what you want done, whether that be a first thin, a clearcut, or a select harvest.
You should begin by inquiring if what you want is reasonable. As an extreme example, thinning a 1 acre pine thicket in your yard isn’t going to garner any interest when it comes to a timber sale. You need to first confirm that your goals are reasonable, and then proceed from there.
2. Is There A Market For My Trees?
Piggy backing off question #1, you need to know if there is a current viable market for your particular timber harvest scenario. Tell them how many acres you have, and what it is that you think you need done. They should know if you will be able to sell your timber for a profit in the current market conditions or not.
What Kind Of Timber Prices Are You Seeing Right Now
A consulting forester that is active in the market should have some idea of what the going rate is for your trees at the local sawmills. You’ll need to know this in order to know if you should proceed or possibly wait.
3. Are My Trees Ready To Cut?
If what you’re wanting sounds reasonable, and there is a market for it, you’ll need to inquire if your trees really are ready to cut. Sometimes you are better off waiting a couple more years. An honest forester will guide you to the best decision for your forest and your pocketbook.
4. How Much Do Your Services Cost, And How Do I Pay You?
One of the first things to address with any consultant you hire is how much they’re going to cost you.
Consulting foresters will typically get paid on a commission basis when you hire them for a timber harvest. That commission will usually be calculated on a percentage of the timber sale. This would commonly be around 10% of the total sale. Beware that that’s not necessarily how all foresters charge, and there could be other fees.
You should ask what their fee structure is, as you’ll be comparing this info with other foresters you speak to. You should always “interview” multiple consultants before deciding on one.
As part of this initial conversation, you should also ask about the expected method of payment and the timing of it.
5. How Will Liability Insurance Be Handled?
In order to protect yourself, there will need to be some layer of insurance, or even multiple layers of insurance, in place before any timber work begins.
Ask about how liability insurance will be covered during the timber harvest. Will the forester cover the necessary insurance, or will they delegate that to you, or to the loggers in the contract?
Any professional forester should work with reputable sub-contractors in which he requires to have liability insurance. This is a conversation that must be discussed.
6. What Are The Forester’s Qualifications?
Your best bet for finding a good forester is to first ask around amongst friends and colleagues to gather some possible options. Word of mouth is usually your best starting point whenever possible.
Once you find a personally recommended forester, you should then do some further due diligence.
Ask the forester what his qualifications are, and seek to verify those qualifications online. I prefer to work with foresters that have a degree from a reputable university, and are currently licensed and registered in the state in which they operate.
There should be an entity in your state, where you can check online if a forester is currently registered. In Mississippi, the site to check for board registered foresters is borf.ms.gov.
Many reputable foresters have a Facebook page and/or other website presence. Go out there and see if you can get a read on how comfortable you are with them.
7. Ask For References
Ideally you would get references of other jobs the consultant has overseen for other landowners. It doesn’t hurt to ask if he can provide some referral contacts for you to follow up with. The larger your harvest is, the more likely you’ll want to do this.
You may wish to visit some harvest sites which he has overseen, to see if those results would satisfy you. It helps if you can go visit a property similar to yours, that has had the same type of timber harvest you want done. Ask if he can point you to such a property.
8. How Should You Mark Borders And Trees?
Marking trees that you want to keep, and marking the boundary of your desired harvest area, are things that you can do ahead of time. Doing so well in advance gives you plenty of time to think about what you want done.
I found myself wondering how I should mark my own borders, so that the loggers know where to cut. I didn’t want my entire place involved in the harvest, so I wanted to mark out an interior section. It’s simple enough to ask for clarification from a local forester on what is expected in your area when it comes to marking things.
There is no national standard for timber markings. So, if you plan to mark an area to be cut, or if you want to mark trees to keep, you should ask what the proper way to do that is.
9. Will You Be Available For Questions Throughout The Process?
There will undoubtedly be questions you have as you work yourself through the entirety of the timber harvest process. Ask if your forester will be available for questions that you may have throughout the process.
Your forester may have a preference as to how you deliver questions to him, whether that be phone call, text, or email. I try to be respectful of people’s preferences here, as I have my own. He may not care, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
10. May I See A Sample Timber Harvest Contract?
Ask if you can see an example timber harvest contract. This will give you more clarity into the world of what to expect going forward.
11. How Frequently Will You Visit The Site During Harvest?
You’ll want to ask if they will be visiting the site during the operation, and how frequently.
Foresters that live closer are more likely to swing by a harvest site more often, but it’s not uncommon to hire a professional forester from over an hour away.
The more different types of wood products you have for sale, the more often you’ll want your forester to swing by. With more wood products, there is more room for error when sorting those products for best returns.
12. Recap The General Process With The Forester
If after the questions above, you have not gotten a clear idea of the process, below are some follow up questions to ask.
At the end of your conversation, you should have a good understanding of what the timber sale process is going to be like. A good consulting forester should be able to lay it all out for you, at least in a general sense.
Start Date
A forester that is plugged into the local market should have some idea of how long it takes before a harvest can begin.
How Long Will It Take?
He can also give you an idea of how long full completion of a contract will take on a property your size, based on what you want done.
Where Is My Timber Going – What Mill(s)?
As more of a curiosity thing, you might like to know where your timber will be hauled to.
Post-Harvest Cleanup
Ask about how post-harvest cleanup will be handled. Things like erosion control, trash, etc, need to be addressed in some manner. Ask how that will work.
13. What Other Services Do You Offer?
You may want to ask what other services a consultant offers, and at what prices. Some forestry consultants offer services beyond the timber sale, some of which you may want. For example, if this will be the final cut, will you need someone to manage the implementation of the next crop of trees?
Things like forestry management plans, supervision of a controlled burn, or planning of fire breaks are all services I have personally considered asking about.
Some Future Questions
Further along in the process you may come up with additional questions you would like to ask your professional forester. Below are some questions I had on my mind, that I did not necessarily care to initially bring up. Your own concerns may differ.
Where will the log landings be placed?
Because I use my property for deer hunting, food plot positioning is important to me. Because of that, I wondered where log loading areas would be established, and how many there would be.
Can I have small clearings created?
As part of the first thin operation on my pines, I wondered if I could designate a few 1 acre areas to be clearcut. I wanted to take the opportunity of a timber harvest to cut out some future food plots for deer. So, I plan to ask about that.
Do sweetgum trees have any timber value?
I have some huge sweetgum trees on my property, and I wanted to ask what I needed to do with them. Can they be sold, or should I just terminate them?
These are the sorts of questions that may pop into your head as you move through the process.
Conclusion
A good consulting forester is certainly worth the money. It will be your job to seek out a good one. Use the questions above to get an idea if you’ve found a reputable professional forester or not.
When hiring a forester, you will preferably follow up with some of his or her references to confirm the quality of their work. The old adage, “trust but verify”, is never a bad idea, especially when this much money is involved.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in this one – How Many Acres Are Needed Per Deer Hunter.
Good luck with your harvest!
Augustus Clay
