Your Michigan Timber Sale

Choosing What Timber To Harvest In Michigan

Trees that are harvested for lumber should be around 16 inches or larger in diameter at breast height of the tree. There should be few branches on the lower part of the tree and clean from rot or decay. As a rule only larger mature trees should be harvested. Trees of lower quality can be removed for firewood, this opens up the canopy of the woods so that the smaller trees can be allowed to get sun to grow along with more space for timber to grow within.

Soil Conditions Mean A Lot For Michigan's Timber

Trees grow different in different soils along with sunlight and moisture conditions. Some trees are shade intolerant and require plenty of sun to grow and reproduce while other kinds of trees are shade tolerant and need to grow in the shade of other trees. Knowing what species of trees that you have on your woodland helps you to make choices on what trees need more sun and what trees need more shade to grow productively in your woodland.

Soil and moisture conditions play a big role in the quality of your trees; excess moisture can allow your trees to be of lower quality as soil conditions can change the quality of a tree from one area to another.

Michigan Timber: Your Overstory and Understory

The overstory is the canopy of branches and leaves that may not allow the sunlight to reach the trees below. The overstory trees receive the most sunlight.

The understory is what is growing under the canopy like ground cover, shrubs and young sapling trees. These plants receive the least sunlight.

If your forest is left to grow and unmanaged then succession will take place and the trees that are shade tolerant with be replaced by shade intolerant trees. Understanding your trees is important to your forest to allow it to reproduce to its maximum potential.

Timber Harvesting In Michigan

The reason for having a timber harvest is so that conditions are created that will allow your woodland to renew and reproduce. When you remove trees you open the canopy and new trees below are allowed to grow and regenerate along with allowing more space for trees for best production. By allowing exposed conditions tree crowns seeds are allowed to give greatest potential for mast production of your woodland.

When considering harvesting and managing your woodland it is best to consider uneven aged management. This creates three or more different stands of trees in your woodland of various ages. This will require a select cutting technique and mostly contain shade tolerant trees where young trees have been growing in the shade of older trees in the forest.

When deciding on a management practice it should depend on your personal and wildlife management goals.

Consideration needs to be taken for wildlife and other things like what you intend on using your woodland for in the future. If you use your woodland for recreation like camping and hiking, these considerations need to be taken into account. If your desire for the use of your woodland is strictly hunting and fishing then different considerations need to be taken into account. Your land should be review by your professional if you so desire to take all these goals into consideration.

Non-Sustainable Timber Practices

Non-sustainable forestry is general financially driven. The result is removing the most valuable trees in the stand while less desirable trees are left to grow. This scenario gives no thought to maintaining the woodland or addressing the wildlife issues. This is a short term goal with no options for profitable future harvesting.

Selling Your Timber In Michigan Should Not Be A Do-It-Yourself Project

Being involved in your timber harvest and sale is important for some landowners. It is vital to seek a professional to do this for you. You and your professional can determine what trees need to be cut and what trees need to be left. Harvesting and selling timber can be very confusing.

Many landowners only have a timber harvest two or three times in their lifetime. It can take up to twenty or thirty years for a woodland to mature for proper harvesting. Mistakes in harvesting and having a timber sale can be costly if you try to do it yourself.

As we say at Northland Timber & Logging; your woodland is an investment, are you treating it that way?

Even today much of Michigan’s timberland is still not harvested for renewable crops. Owners fail to see their forest as needing to be maintained, leaving your forest alone is not beneficial for its future growth. A large amount of Michigan’s forests are overstocked and need to be thinned to maintain proper future growth.

Managing Your Michigan Timber Woodland

If you are having difficulty on where to begin with your woodland on proper harvesting, Northland Timber & Logging is Certified in Sustainable Forestry and can help you with your harvesting needs. Contact us by clicking here.

In England what we call lumber in the United States is refered to as timber

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