Glossary

consulting forester—A professional who works under contract to manage the timber sale and acts as an agent for the landowner.  The services of a professional forester can include: measuring and tallying the marketable timber in the sale area, marking the trees to be sold and the sale boundaries, putting out a competitive bid, and inspecting the operation of the actual harvest.

contract logging--In this type of sale, which is common in the northeast, the landowner or forester working for the landowner, hires a logger for a set fee. The landowner maintains ownership of the logs until he is paid by the mill. In this case, timber value is based on log value measured by the scale at the mill, not stumpage value as timber stands in the woods.  Contract logging may be an appropriate way to sell timber if there is only one interested buyer or the timber is of lower quality.

cruise—Process of inventorying and measuring a stand of timber.

dbh—Diameter Breast Height, 4.5 feet from the base of the tree where the diameter of the trunk is measured.

lump sum—A single payment for the timber that is made before any of the trees are harvested.

pay-as-you-cut—The buyer pays the landowner a fixed price for the timber as each load is harvested.

performance bond—A deposit that the timber buyer gives to the landowner to ensure that the conditions of the contract will be met.  If the logger meets their obligations specified in the contract, then this money is returned to the buyer.

retirement of the sale—The process of ensuring the future productivity of the land following a timber harvest.

sale area—The area of the forest from which timber is to be harvested.  The boundaries of the sale area should be clearly marked.

shares--The logger and seller each agree to receive a portion or percentage of the profits from each load of wood delivered to the mill.

show me tour—An opportunity for interested bidders to inspect the timber for sale.

tract—Parcel of forested land.