Richland Center, Wis.—One of the more important sources of wood in our area at this time is privately owned timber that the landowner has in the Managed Forest Law (MFL). This program is basically a deferred tax program. The landowner pays a much lower tax on this land, and in return the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages the timber. A plan is drawn up when the timber is enrolled. When the plan calls for a harvest and it is completed, the landowner pays a certain amount per thousand for each species that is harvested. The purpose of the MFL is not only to ensure proper management of the timber, but also it was intended as a source of wood for our industry. Landowners who are not enrolled in the program have been very reluctant to sell their wood due to the lowering of log prices. In the MFL, if the plan calls for a harvest in a given year, it is supposed to happen. This makes wood available for our industry. If a landowner is not happy to sell at today’s prices, he has the option to opt out of the MFL, but it would cost a significant amount to do so.
I think that mill owners, at least in our area, would agree that the DNR has reduced the amount of good quality timber for sale in the MFL properties. Presently, most MFL sales seem to be just cutting the low-grade timber, and doing Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) work. TSI is the cutting of cull trees and unwanted species down to approximately 2” diameter breast height (DBH). TSI wouldn’t be a bad thing if we had a viable pulp or bio mass market.
Once the low grade has been harvested and the TSI work is completed, the DNR feels that the parcel needs to be cut again in six to 10 years. We believe that we should do a cut now, taking mature, quality timber along with the low-grade timber, and then let the woods regenerate. Any time a harvest is done, it greatly disrupts the woods, and we feel that a proper harvest every 20 to 30 years is a correct way of management. We also worry that cutting plans are being altered due to lower timber prices.
Once we purchase timber, the time of year that we can harvest can be a challenge. First and foremost, we have to abide by Best Management Practices (BMP). These are guidelines established by the state, which we have to be knowledgeable of, and abide by. Frozen ground is the most favorable time for timber to be harvested. There are many sites in our area where it is not safe or feasible to log when the ground is frozen. In the winter with a lot of snow, the ground is not frozen until we plow it to enable it to freeze. If harvesting when frozen isn’t an option, the ground must be dry to prevent excessive rutting of the woods.
We generally have to have an adequate inventory to get us through breakup, or the “mud season.” After the first of April until mid to late July, we have “Oak wilt season.” This means if a parcel has Oak in it, we are not supposed to be in there harvesting it during that time period. Therefore, we are required to have enough inventories to not only get through breakup, but also through Oak wilt season. This poses another challenge, as lumber buyers want their lumber to be “fresh cut, bright, and free of stain.”
Recently we have encountered another obstacle, the Emerald Ash Borer. Our mill is in a non-quarantined county that is bordered by some quarantined counties where we purchase some of our timber. We can only transport Ash out of those counties from Oct. 1 to Apr. 1. If we purchase logs or timber in those counties from Apr. 2 to Sept. 20, we cannot transport the logs to our mill. We either don’t cut it, or we have to sell the logs to someone in the quarantined counties. Either option does not help to increase inventory.
Now I, along with everybody else, have decided that it is easier to pay a little more for our timber due to the improvement in lumber prices. When one entity does it, we all have to if we want to purchase wood. We were purchasing timber, but it makes it less difficult to buy when we take the profit out of the picture by increasing our prices. How soon we forget the hole we had dug ourselves into.
Our log buyers are constantly looking for timber that can be harvested around the above-mentioned conditions. Now throw in gun deer season, bow deer season, and numerous turkey seasons, all of which are times the hunters don’t want us in the woods, to add to the challenge.
I just read an article about how business has changed. In that article the editor used the expression that, “When somebody shoots your dog, teach your cat to hunt.” I like that expression and I just hope that this cat isn’t too old and is smart enough to learn to hunt.
