Timber Sale

Today I drove past these logs by the side of the road and decide I have not done a blog on timber sales.  I some parts of Illinois, timber is an afterthought.  When Europeans arrived in Illinois, they settled in the part of the state that  had trees.  At that time, something like 20% of the state was prairie and trees were scarce.  The early settles wanted trees for construction material.

These logs are being sold for some sort of lumber.  Lots of timber in Illinois is turned into pallet lumber.  Higher value timber in Illinois consists of Black Walnut, Hard Maple, Red Oak and White Oak.  The value each depends somewhat on the popularity of furniture styles.  There was a time when walnut was the most popular.  Right now Red Oak is more popular.

Land owners who are considering a timber sale would be wise to bring in a forester to tell them what they have and mark trees for sale.  Sellers who use a consulting forester are more likely to get high dollar for their resource.  A consulting forester can also enhance the value of you timber by suggesting pruning and thinning needs to maximize production.  They can also tell you if your trees are ready to sell or if you might make more by letting them grow for now.  Large healthy trees will add more board feet per year than small trees.  Large unhealthy trees should be harvested to prevent deterioration.