Timber Harvest Short Course Set For Lebanon
LINDA GEIST
LEBANON, MISSOURI
Know your market before you sell trees, says University of Missouri Extension natural resources specialist Sarah Havens.
Havens, with Michel Hartmann of the Missouri Department of Conservation, will offer a daylong program to help landowners learn to improve the quality of their woodland and how to market timber.
The timber harvest workshop will be 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26.
It starts with a classroom session at the MU Extension Center Laclede County, 186D N. Adams Ave., Lebanon. The afternoon includes a field trip to the site of a recent timber sale.
“Many woodland owners see harvesting trees as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Havens says. Too often, landowners sell trees for less than fair-market value, and oftentimes the wrong trees are harvested, leaving the residual forest a wasteland.
“I often ask farmers and livestock producers if they ever sell their crops or take their livestock to market without knowing something about what they are selling,” she says. “Of course not. Then why did you take that first offer the logger gave you?”
Havens will present eight steps for getting the highest price for timber, the basic elements to include in a timber sale contract, best management practices in a harvest plan, and managing timber sales tax.
Working with a professional forester ensures the right trees are harvested, leaving you with a healthier, more productive forest capable of generating future income, she says. “Knowledge is power.
With that knowledge, you can rest easier knowing you did the best for yourself and your land.”
Register at muext.us/TimberHarvestWorkshop. For more information, contact Jonetta Shaver at shaverj@missouri.edu or
417-532-7126. ∆
LINDA GEIST: University of Missouri