landowners

Ask what your goals are for your timber tract…..Are you looking to maximize revenue, have a reduction in trees, or simply reducing your risk of forest fire damage? Once you have clear goals, get in contact with your Oregon Department of Forestry Stewardship Forester or OSU Extension Forester to get references for local loggers they would recommend. Then have ODF assess your site for wetlands, streams or other features to protect. Knowing your site and your goals will help get recommendations for loggers who have the most appropriate equipment and experience for your terrain. Having the right equipment creates less ground disturbance and can maximize revenue. Also, determine if your road will accommodate the equipment required or will you need to widen a driveway or build more roads. Also, ask if you are in any other restricted area that would limit your ability to remove timber such as an adjacent park, scenic area or inside city limits. As you prepare for a harvest, gather all the legal and financial information you might need make sure you have the names of all legal owners - maybe you have multiple owners or the property is in a trust or business name. Are there financial issues to consider? If you do not know the basis of your timber for tax purposes speak to your CPA as you may need to determine that prior to harvest are there estate or inheritance issues that might require you to have a timber cruise completed? ​​

Once you know you want to proceed to hire a logger, ask several of them for references for projects similar to yours. If they don’t have any similar projects, that might not be a good sign. Ask if they are certified under the Oregon Professional Logger program. After you have selected a logger, there are many things for you or your logger to do file a Notification of Operation with the Oregon Department of Forestry, identify property boundaries and order a survey if needed, prepare a contract, get certificates of insurance from the logger with an additional insured endorsement for the landowner(s), and keep track of all your logging revenue and expenses-you’ll need the information for income tax and harvest tax prep. When reviewing or preparing a contract, it should include the legal names of the owners and the legal description of the property to be harvested including who marks the cutting boundary or identifies trees to harvest in a partial cut when is the harvest to happen and any weather related issues to include insurance requirements what is to be done - a clear cut, thinning, etc. the logging rate and what the logging rate includes such as: equipment move in and out, rock, road construction and maintenance, cutting, logging, hauling and log marketing, slash piling, replanting, and timber taxes. A GOOD LOGGER CAN PROVIDE ALL THESE SERVICES WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A CONSULTANT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION, CALL BIGHORN LOGGING AT 503-324-2422. THANK YOU!​