What Goals do You Have for Your Forest Land?

Take a few minutes to consider what you want to achieve by owning forest land:

• A good investment?
• An inheritance for children or grandchildren?
• A source of occasional money when trees are big enough to cut?
• A beautiful place to walk through and look at?
• A place to view or hunt deer, turkey, or squirrel?
• A source of annual or regular income (this is often possible!)?
• A retirement fund?
• Privacy for your home?

Once you set goals for what you want from your property, we can match your goals with a Management Plan.

Do You Need a Management Plan on Your Forest?

Meeting your goals in the future is dependent on proper year-to-year management, particularly concerning timber sales and regeneration of new trees to replace those harvested.

In Proverbs 28:13, the Bible says, “Where there is no vision the people perish”. A forestry Management Plan is a way to envision the future of your forestlands. Your trees will grow whether you have a plan or not. But with a Management Plan you may avoid costly errors and gain the ability to best meet your goals for the property.

Landowners who have a goal to maximize their invested money may treat their forest as a farm crop. Farmers know their soils and what will grow best in them. They know how much money they are spending in planting and care of their crop, and have a good idea of how much money they can make when the crop is harvested. They recognize the danger of disease and insects and are prepared to deal with the adversities and risks of growing their crop. In summary, THEY PLAN!!!

What is Included in the Management Plan?

The Management Plan is a collection of tables, maps, and written narrative describing the current status of the trees on your property. It will also give options about how to achieve your various goals for the future. Items reported on may include some or all of the following:

1. Current Volumes and Value of existing timber based on a cruise or inventory.
2. Current Conditions of each timber and land type: includes site index (the capacity of the soil to grow timber) and stocking density (tells which trees need to be thinned).
3. Maps and Aerial Photocopies of the property.
4. Management Options and steps needed to achieve your goals.
5. Estimated Income and Expenses as related to carrying out Management options.
6. Growth and Yield Projections (estimates of what will be available to cut in the future).

What Will My Plan Cost?

Cost of the Plan will vary with acres involved, number of options you want to explore, and detail desired. A Basic Plan that does not include a timber cruise can be very affordable.

Contact an FCI consultant and we will talk to you about your goals and then provide a written Proposal stating what work will be done and how much the fee will be. If you know that you want an affordable Basic Plan, let us know at that time.

This will be Your Plan, designed to meet Your Goals, and to be executed at Your Command.