Cutting the best trees (those of highest value) and leaving the low value, often diseased or malformed trees, is all too common. In the Northeast, this practice may happen on as many as 65 to 80% of all timber harvests. This forestry practice is called high-grading, where the highest grade (or value) trees are removed. High-grading at any level degrades the forest and reduces the options available to you. By cutting only the largest and most valuable trees you remove those best suited to that site. The trees that are less well adapted remain as the next forest and as the seed source for future forests. The financial gain of high-grading exists only briefly, yet ownership objectives will be sacrificed for decades. A similar analogy from livestock is the farmer or stable manager who shoots the blue ribbon bull or winning racehorse and uses the losers for breeding stock. The quality of the herd, just as the quality of the forest and woodlot, declines rapidly!