Inherited Forests as a poor man. What do I do?

[VIP-FORESTMAN]

Hello, I am disabled. I own some acres. They are Forest.
My friend says "Get a loan to get harvest going, get your land as collateral, and try to pay off the loan by Harvesting trees..."
As a disabled person, that option sounds very unsecure. And what if something happens?
I don't even know step 1 on what I should do to harvest some trees.
I have a caregiver, they take care of me, and I don't have a vehicle to go out and survey the Acreage I own.
And my caregivers techncially arent allowed to drive me out there by policy of the companys limitations.
I have been through stress about all this.
My Family Owns the land and i am its heir.
What can I as a poor man, with limited Mobiliy Do to secure The process of maybe harvesting timber? and what are the steps to Do so.
Also, what are the problems I need to consider?

 

[promechanic]

I'm not sure why you would need to put up money to have logging done on your property. Any reputable company is going to be bonded and insured, and should not be asking for money from you at all. Maybe have a county or state forester look over the property, then get bids from a few logging companies.

 

[irhunter]

I suggest you tell us what state you live in and how much land,

If it's lots of land...hire a forester.

If you live in a state which provides free, or low cost, forester consults...do that.

Promechanic is right, of course, loggers will pay you for your wood. It is not totally unheard of for loggers to hose landowners who really don't know what's up.

Roy

 

[gumneck]

Agreed above and here is some more info below. You definitely need a timber cruiser. Search up "timber cruising" in your area.

https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/econ/timberprices/answers/

 

[PJM]

What's the loan for?

My Family Owns the land and i am its heir.

Sorry, but you don't own the land yet so it's not really yours to do anything with. If your family wants to do something now, then follow the above advice about getting a state/county service forester out to assess and make recommendations as a first step.

 

[sean donato]

I'll be an echo chamber from above.
First, if it's not your property yet, you need written permission from the land owner, it's merely a formality in case anything happens.
Second, you need to find someone skilled in tree conservation/ forest management. Not knowing where your from is a handicap for the rest of us to point you in a good direction of whom to contact.
Third, after you've had an assessment done, you can bid out the harvesting. Typically the company(s) will have someone out to survey the land and come up with a plan of what to harvest, road layout, landing pad etc. Pricing should be included for the intended timber harvest, or at least an agreed upon way to determine fair value of the wood. Normally I like to see the log slips from the yard and what they paid out. It keeps everyone honest imo.
Award the contract to whomever will give you what you think is fair, and has a good plan for your Forrest.
I think it would be quite prudent to have someone reliable to check up on the progress and report any concerns back to you.
Best of luck.

 

[ericm979]

If the land is large enough you can hire a forester to oversee the sale, making sure the terms are good and that the logging company follows through. Loggers will leave a mess of slash and unwanted trees behind if they can get away with it. That trash will make the land harder to work in the future and will be a fire hazard. I think that these kinds of foresters take a percentage. The county/state forester should be able to give some recommendations.

You'll also want your forest plan to include regenerating the forest. If you do a very selective cut that doesn't remove many trees you may be able to get by with natural regeneration but if you're maximizing the returns then planting trees would be the way to get another forest (and another harvest) sooner. You'll probably need to have brush cleared and trees thinned at some point.

If you maximize the returns from one cut and don't plan for the future, it will take longer to get another crop, and the land will be worth less when you go to sell it. The county/state forester should be able to help with this, probably for free.

 

[Seachaser]

Around here you go to the State forestry agent. One in each district. They will come out for free. If the timber is worth it, they will give you a list of logging companies. Pick three. Get quotes. Sell by the ton, not by lump sum. The larger property and closer to the mills, the more per ton. Clear cut, you can expect $1000 - $3000 per acre. Than the cost to replant. Usually $800 - $1000 per acre. Plus you pay taxes on your profits, but you get a tax break when you replant. Now if it is less than 40 acres, you have to find someone willing to tackle a small acreage.

 

[RADeHaven]

If in California, follow this link to the california licensed foresters site.

https://www.clfa.org/contact

 

[ATH]

Agreed with all of the above suggestions to work with a forester. Check with the state first.

I was a state service forester for over 15 years. I now do some consulting forestry work in addition to the arboriculture work I do most of the time.

It really depends on where you are... @Seachaser gives good advice for southern pine forests - sell by the ton. If you do that, like @sean donato said, you want to see the mill tickets.

In higher value hardwoods, it is very common to do a lump sum sealed bid sale. Individual trees for sale are marked (or an area for clearcut is marked out) and put out to bid. Then buyers tell you up front what they are going to pay. They write a check for 100% of that before they start a saw. A forester should be marking the trees after having discussed the plans for managing the woods with you - the timber buyer should NOT be deciding what is for sale.

It doesn't need to be a large acreage. I regularly work with 10 acre sales...

You'll also want to involve an accountant. Depending on how the acreage came to you, you may have a step-up basis. That means your basis for when you acquired the timber is the actual value of the timber. That is significant because if you own the land for more than a year, you can pay capital gains taxes on the sale. That means if the timber was worth, just for kicks say $10,000 when you acquired it and you sell if for $11,000, you would only be paying taxes (at capital gains rate) on $1,000 of realized gain. You can also take off any fees paid to a consulting forester. I don't know how all that works - just that it can work. That is where an accountant comes in...