Is cutting down trees bad?

Of course not. Responsible forest stewards and landowners cut trees to help the forest and provide useful products to society. There is not a room in your home or an hour in every day where a forest product is not used. New York now has more forested acres than 100 years ago.

Timber Harvesting is a tool used in Forest Management. It is the selective thinning of your private wood lot in order to achieve your goals set forth by you, the landowner, for your specific property. It is a financial arrangement where WE PAY YOU for your timber but this is only one of the benefits of logging in Hudson Valley.

The real question is why not harvest your timber. Through timber harvesting you can generate capital from the sale of your forest products, improve forest health and promote regeneration by opening gaps in the canopy and creating a healthier forest containing different sizes, ages, species and levels of canopy strata. It can increase access through the system of skid trails created from the project. Also, through proper clean up and "best management practices" water quality can be protected and wild life habitat can be enhanced.

The average ownership for land in the Hudson Valley is seven years. A large percentage of our clients are in the process of selling their lands. For them we provide a situation where they can retain some capital from a project and not de-value the parcel by protecting aesthetics. We have several projects that were completed and the land sold within a year of that completion date.

From your contact with us we first speak with you and discuss your goals and concerns for the property. A visit to the property is made once or several times, with or without you, in order to work up a proposal for you. This proposal is at no cost to you. At the proposal meeting, if you decide you want to move forward, you would sign a timber harvesting contract which will address all your concerns and the minimum priced harvest we recommend for your property based on your goals. From there, one of our foresters would measure and mark all the timber scheduled for harvest in order to meet your goals. A final offer would be presented to you that would be at least the minimum dollar figure presented to you at the proposal and would reflect your goals. We would then put your project on the harvest schedule, insure you ($1,000,000 workmen's compensation and liability), pay you accordingly and commensurate with the project. At an appropriate time with the right ground conditions we will clean up the property and reclaim the site.

Unmerchantable sections of the trees are left in a "lopped" condition. These tops often decay rapidly into the forest floor as biomass but provide food and cover for browsers before they do. All skid trails are re-graded and erosion control devices are installed as per NY State guidelines. Landings are hayed and seeded. All concerns are addressed.

Not only do we have references, but we encourage you to come see one of our completed projects near your property. This best articulates the benefits of a project involving timber harvesting in Hudson Valley.