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Tree Values
Landscape Trees
Usually landscape trees are valued for things other than the lumber that can be made from them.
Landscape trees are valued for they services they provide, things like: shade, privacy, appearance, wildlife habitat, erosion control, noise control, safety barriers, and others. Trees also help clean air, and water, and they convert atmospheric carbon into wood fiber.
Landscape tree appraisal considers many factors such as: species of tree, diameter of trunk, height of branches, location, form, condition, placement among other trees. Other factors are hard to value, like emotional ties, and the like. Consider what your neighborhood would look like if all the trees were gone.
Because there are a number of factors to consider, a site visit is almost always needed.
Usually landscape trees are valued for things other than the lumber that can be made from them.
Landscape trees are valued for they services they provide, things like: shade, privacy, appearance, wildlife habitat, erosion control, noise control, safety barriers, and others. Trees also help clean air, and water, and they convert atmospheric carbon into wood fiber.
Landscape tree appraisal considers many factors such as: species of tree, diameter of trunk, height of branches, location, form, condition, placement among other trees. Other factors are hard to value, like emotional ties, and the like. Consider what your neighborhood would look like if all the trees were gone.
Because there are a number of factors to consider, a site visit is almost always needed.
Forest Trees
In a forest, trees are usually valued based on the amount of wood that they contain, and quality factors. So a large tree is worth more...right? It's not quite that easy. Many factors go into figuring out the monetary value.
The species of trees in the forest play a pivotal role. The market for different final products also drives a large part of value. High value walnut furniture has a high market value, and that value trickles back through the system into the value of a walnut tree on the stump. Conversely, a low grade ream of paper has a lower value, and that drives much of the value for trees used to make it. A high quality hardwood veneer tree can be worth hundreds. A low quality tree used for pulp could be worth a dime, or less.
It is common, almost the rule, that commercial harvest operations involve the use of over a million dollars in equipment. Combine that cost with the required skilled operators, the cost of fuel, insurance, benefits, maintenance, and it is easy to see the cost of harvesting can be huge. And after all that - the trees, now processed into logs, are still on the site. Getting the logs to a mill involves similar costs. After the mill processes the logs into a final product, that product is sold - and that usually drives the money in forestry. And don't forget the role in profit at each step in the process.
So, in order to profitably engage the harvesting and shipping process, the value of the resource has to be pretty high. If a landowner has 160 acres of high value hardwoods, like walnut or sugar maple, the processing cost can be easily compensated for by the high value market value of the final product. On the other hand, 15 acres of aspen that is heavily infected with decay fungi, has a pretty low value based on the market value of low grade paper that might be the final product. This 15 acre aspen woodlot is in a bind, the trees have little market value, and it is likely that it cannot be commercially harvested. In some cases, a small hand-crew that needs little costly equipment can be found, but it is less likely as the years pass. In a case like this it is important to seek out sources of funding that might help pay for forest regeneration, to cut losses and transition the forest into one that has more potential to grow value.
In a forest, trees are usually valued based on the amount of wood that they contain, and quality factors. So a large tree is worth more...right? It's not quite that easy. Many factors go into figuring out the monetary value.
The species of trees in the forest play a pivotal role. The market for different final products also drives a large part of value. High value walnut furniture has a high market value, and that value trickles back through the system into the value of a walnut tree on the stump. Conversely, a low grade ream of paper has a lower value, and that drives much of the value for trees used to make it. A high quality hardwood veneer tree can be worth hundreds. A low quality tree used for pulp could be worth a dime, or less.
It is common, almost the rule, that commercial harvest operations involve the use of over a million dollars in equipment. Combine that cost with the required skilled operators, the cost of fuel, insurance, benefits, maintenance, and it is easy to see the cost of harvesting can be huge. And after all that - the trees, now processed into logs, are still on the site. Getting the logs to a mill involves similar costs. After the mill processes the logs into a final product, that product is sold - and that usually drives the money in forestry. And don't forget the role in profit at each step in the process.
So, in order to profitably engage the harvesting and shipping process, the value of the resource has to be pretty high. If a landowner has 160 acres of high value hardwoods, like walnut or sugar maple, the processing cost can be easily compensated for by the high value market value of the final product. On the other hand, 15 acres of aspen that is heavily infected with decay fungi, has a pretty low value based on the market value of low grade paper that might be the final product. This 15 acre aspen woodlot is in a bind, the trees have little market value, and it is likely that it cannot be commercially harvested. In some cases, a small hand-crew that needs little costly equipment can be found, but it is less likely as the years pass. In a case like this it is important to seek out sources of funding that might help pay for forest regeneration, to cut losses and transition the forest into one that has more potential to grow value.
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