By Mike Isbell
University of Georgia

If you don't like to see trees being cut and removed, don't ride on U.S. Highway 27 between LaGrange and Franklin, because that is exactly what you'll be seeing.

Highway construction is removing trees along the right of way. And that really bothers me, since these trees aren't being removed for their value but because they're in the way.

These trees will be gone and won't be replanted.

Selling a tract of timber

We recently sold a tract of timber my grandfather planted about 60 years ago. The trees were infested with pine beetles, and slowly, tree by tree, the beetles were killing them. We harvested the timber because it was valuable.

These trees are gone, too, but hopefully we'll replant them.

It would have been easy to sell the timber to the first guy who called to tell me the beetles were in the trees. He just happened to be a timber buyer. But I knew that wasn't the right way to sell a tract of timber.

It takes time to grow the trees, so it ought to take time to sell them.

Don't sell it too cheap

Many landowners sell their timber to the first guy who offers them a price for it. And you can bet they sell it too cheap. Why? Because they don't know what it's worth. But you'd better believe the timber buyer knows what it's worth.

It's not that timber buyers are dishonest. They're just trying to buy timber as cheap as they can. In any sale, they're only guilty of doing their job well.

If you sell timber, consult a registered forester. Foresters are well qualified to represent you when selling your timber. You might get up to twice as much money. And you'll leave your land in much better shape, adding value to it.

At a disadvantage

As a timber seller, you're at a disadvantage. Seldom do you know the going price for timber. And if you don't know its value, how do you know if the price you're given is a good one? You don't.

We used a forester in our sale. He cruised the timber, marked the trees to be cut, flagged off areas to be left out of the sale and basically oversaw the harvest. Oh, yeah -- he sent out sealed bids to timber buyers. We selected the highest bid out of seven, which was almost twice the lowest bid.

We felt confident that we got the best price possible for my grandfather's tract.