New member

[Madcow41]

Hello all,

New to the forum I wanted to gather everybody's opinion on the best way to own forest land By way of investing and eventually managing it successfully has another source of income I am looking into getting into the forestry field myself after years of fighting wildfire. I'm up in Washington state and looking to get started and learn.

[EWilson99]

I guess where to start would it be asking if you already own any land at all. Depending on what you're looking at, a 20/30 acre wooded property might be a great area to start. 

Would you be looking to use for any sort of recreational purposes at all, or just looking to cut some trails and harvest the lumber?

[Madcow41]

My focus would be getting something that I can do commercial thinning immediately or near term with a diverse age range so I can have harvest (small) at some sort of interval. I would manage the land for wildlife and hunting secondarily but with emphasis on the former. 20-30 acres sounds about right in my head but I would be seeking more eventually. 

Big thing is how realistic is it and practical is it for a "regular guy" to own a private forest now a days and is there profit to be made?

[Southside]

Where are you located?  As far as your last sentence goes, it's all in what you put into it.  As far as I know there are no Rothschilds, in my family tree, or if there are they sure kept me out of the loop and we have a decent amount of ground.  

[EWilson99]

My focus would be getting something that I can do commercial thinning immediately or near term with a diverse age range so I can have harvest (small) at some sort of interval. I would manage the land for wildlife and hunting secondarily but with emphasis on the former. 20-30 acres sounds about right in my head but I would be seeking more eventually.

Big thing is how realistic is it and practical is it for a "regular guy" to own a private forest now a days and is there profit to be made?

Depending on your price range, wooden land can be rather expensive. Make sure that when you're looking around, that you have a general sense of what type of trees are located within the forest- some trees like Red Cedar and Hemlocks can be considered quite valuable. It's also possible that you're stuck with overgrown agricultural land, and you may be stuck with more bush than actual trees, so visiting the property beforehand is always a plus.

Should you expect to make a living out of harvesting 20 acres of forest and expecting to retire comfortably in your late 50s? Probably not. But if you're looking for a source of income "on the side", and you're committed to putting effort into it, I definitely think you should do it.

[kantuckid]

Forestry is a tough way to make a buck if your the person doing the work. State tax/forestry laws matter as do how deep your pockets are. We bought our mostly forested land here in rural E KY in 1978. As I near 78 yrs old I'm not as able to manage keeping up with this forests needs. In fact due to weather effects combined with a dead tractor senario, I've still not caught up with fallen trees from last winter. It's a never ending task even on a small area. Growing old where you chose to live is great but also an old, well known story that aging on land is not easy. 
Most forestry laws are the result of an industry lobby from the big time owners not little guys like me. Another factor is the fact that wealthy folks use forested lands to live on for 2nd homes while developers chop up many forests into saleable sized parcels for those second homes thus you've got to beat the developers to the sale when people like me kick off. In New England there are laws to keep farm lands & forests whole but sure not true in KY! Here it often goes to multiple heirs who then sell their piece or park a trailer on it. 
Anywhere near mtns in the west your competing with 2nd homes and the rich if it's touristy at all nearby. In my area we lacked that competion for land until lately. Now, since lands often already been chopped up in the main eastern mtn areas where it's been touristy for some years, it's beginning to become a factor here in my area as folks have discovered E KY is cheap land-unlike areas of W NC, E TN, N GA, etc..