Forester recommendations

[msal]

Hi all, we are looking to have a bit of land cleared around our house and we are leaning toward hiring a forester. I was hoping to get some recommendations -- my apologies if I've posted in the wrong spot!

We are located in Effingham, NH. I've found foresters via the UNH Coop Extension but thought it was worthwhile to ask on here as well. The job isn't huge, just a line of trees on either side of the house and potentially more out back depending on cost. The land was logged before we purchased so most of the big trees are already gone. Behind each line of trees there is a clearing (one side was the landing when the loggers came in) that we would like to expand our yard into, plus open up more sunlight for gardening, etc. Out back would be more general cleanup and small tree removal (the loggers made a big ole mess, a quick and dirty job before the house foreclosed apparently).

Eventually we will be purchasing a small tractor, but I don't think it makes sense for land clearing based on what I've read here. I've kicked around the idea of renting/purchasing used larger equipment but it seems like just having a forester come in makes more sense. I'm not 100% against doing it myself, so I will entertain recommendations about how to tackle this myself and what kind of equipment I would need, etc.

Looking forward to any recommendations!

[Texas Ranger]

Sounds like you may need an arborist, rather than a forester.  May not be enough wood to make the payout for the forester.

[JBlain]

If it is all lower grade and junk, I would hire an excavation company with a big piece of equipment and just push everything over and use the bucket teeth to root rake the ground . A good operator can clear a lot of ground on the right size machine in a day, especially if the trees are still standing.  Low stumps are hard to dig out when they are large.

[John Mc]

Are you looking for a forester (helps develop a plan, marks the harvest, markets the wood), or a logger (to take down the trees)? Around here, a lndowner doing a timber harvest will generally have both, but if you already know what trees you want cleared and/or are just clearing out some junk, you may not need a whole lot of planning or management of the operation. You might just need the guy who is doing the cutting and stump removal.

[msal]

Are you looking for a forester (helps develop a plan, marks the harvest, markets the wood), or a logger (to take down the trees)? Around here, a lndowner doing a timber harvest will generally have both, but if you already know what trees you want cleared and/or are just clearing out some junk, you may not need a whole lot of planning or management of the operation. You might just need the guy who is doing the cutting and stump removal.

We actually had a someone out from the UNH coop program to take a look at our land. We've got some pretty beat up logging trails and a lot of mess left behind by the logging operation. She had recommended seeking out a forester to come up with a plan. I think I was leaning forester because I was hoping to eventually reuse the same person for trail cleanup, etc. There is very little timber of value left, we would be paying out of pocket rather than trying to break even. Apparently there is some govt funding available though for our trail cleanup if we use a correctly licensed forester. However, for this particular job I think you are right, I probably just need a logger/someone with big equipment.

I think what JBlain mentioned about just pushing everything over would be the way to go.

[luvmexfood]

Just a thought and don't know what a co-op does but maybe contacting a state forester could be of assistance.