Forestry Management
We provide a variety of services that can help landowners manage their forestry resources.
Forest Taxation
We can help you reduce the tax burden from your forestland. Working with you and your CPA, we can explore strategies which may lower your property taxes and reduce the amount of Federal and State income tax you owe from timber sales.
Crop Tree Release Thinning
Increase the growth rate of your most valuable trees, and you will increase the financial return from your forestry investment. Crop tree management accomplishes this goal by identifying the highest quality, or “crop,” trees and removing the competing trees to give the crop trees more room to grow and more resources to utilize. Crop tree selection criteria can include timber, wildlife, aesthetic, and water quality.
Herbicide Release Assistance
Herbicides are often the most cost-effective way to control unwanted species in your forest. Removing unwanted species that are competing with your valuable commercial timber species allows your preferred timber to grow quickly and vigorously. Herbicides can also be used to favor hard-mast producing trees, or create snags, which are both quite beneficial for wildlife.
With non-native invasive species, such as kudzu or ailanthus, herbicides will likely be the only way to control them. We have relationships with several skilled and qualified herbicide applicators and can arrange for herbicide release to make your forest a better forest.
Forest Maintenance
Marked boundary lines are an important asset to a well maintained forest. By having your boundaries marked you increase the chances of avoiding trespass and cutovers or timber theft when an adjacent landowner harvests their timber. We can maintain your old boundary line marks or help you hire a registered land surveyor to establish new ones.
Well maintained and easy access to your forest increases its value and your enjoyment. We are trained professionals who can layout road locations, design stream crossings, and install gates to limit access. We have relationships with several highly skilled equipment operators, who are capable of building new roads or repairing your existing roads.
Forests are dynamic ecosystems and are constantly changing. It is very important that you have a trained professional inspect your property on an annual basis. Through these inspections we are able to determine if your forest is healthy. Some of the things we look for are insect, disease, and storm damage. We also ensure that no damage has been done to your property such as timber theft. This is a service that is very valuable especially to to out-of-town landowners, who are often not able to visit their property regularly.
Forest Health Issues
There are a vast number of diseases, insects, and invasive plants that threaten our forests today; chestnut blight, gypsy moth, southern pine beetle, and kudzu are just a few. The first step to protecting your property, is to have a forester prepare a management plan which should identify any forest health issues on the property. This will provide you with goals and the means to achieve them.
The next step is to keep your forest healthy. Most diseases and insects prey upon slow-growing, old, or overcrowded forest stands. By keeping your forest growing quickly and not allowing it to become overcrowded, it won’t be an appealing place for forest pests.
Reforestation Assistance
A landowner wishing to reforest an area must first consider the site preparation needs of the land. Options can include controlled fire, herbicide application, use of heavy equipment, or chainsaw fell and leave treatments. All site preparation methods are designed to prepare the land for growth of new trees, and are unique to the harvested area. A very clean harvest area may not require as much site preparation as an area densely covered with debris.
For the reforestation of hardwoods such as poplar and oaks, natural regeneration is normally used. This involves allowing trees to naturally sprout from the stump. For pines such as white pine or loblolly pine, artificial regeneration is normally required, involving hand-planting seedlings in the previously cutover area. In both cases the survival of new trees must be monitored, and competing species must be controlled.
Tree Farm
As Certified Tree Farm Inspectors, we can help you become a certified tree farm, or perform your tree farm inspection.
Hunting Leases
Leasing land for hunting is a great way for landowners to generate extra income. Hunt leases generate income and can make wildlife on your property more productive.
Some hunt clubs establish food plots, and manage for forage species. This can lead to increased wildlife as well as increased land value. The hunters that lease from you have a vested interest in your land, and will usually post signs discouraging trespass. Our hunt lease contracts also require the hunters to get liability insurance naming the landowner as coinsured. This insurance helps to cover any of the legal liability the landowner might worry about.
Leasing land for hunting can be a worry free way to generate income from forest land.