Harvesting

Complete harvesting project management. Initial land valuation, planning, permitting, through operational supervision, logging and timber sales.

Timber Harvest Plan (THP)

A THP is a state approved permit that allows a landowner to commercially harvest forest products from their property. The THP is used to create income for the landowner by growing and cutting trees every 12-18 years. The permit is valid for five years and must be prepared by a Registered Professional Forester (RPF). The THP is a fairly lengthy document (100-200 pages) and is the functional equivalent of an Environmental Impact Report. As well as satisfying state environmental requirements, the THP provides an Operating Plan that details how logging operations shall occur. Included in the Operating Plan is mitigation from logging impacts and maps showing the location of all roads, tractor trails, landings, watercourses and other property features.

Field work required in preparing a THP includes locating property lines, determining logging methods and designing road and trail systems. Logging infrastructure is designed to protect watercourses and biotic and biological resources. Every tree proposed for harvest is individually marked. Marking is not just about the trees you harvest, but also about the forest you leave behind. Only single-tree selective harvesting is allowed in the redwood region south of San Francisco. In selective harvesting about one third to one half of the larger trees are cut on a 12-18 year cutting cycle. A post-harvest stand should have trees with good form that are well spaced for optimal growing conditions. Wildlife trees with basal hollows, large limb structures and reiterated tops should also be retained to promote complexity in the forest.

Non-industrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP)

An NTMP is a lifetime harvest plan good into perpetuity. A with a THP, the NTMP is used to generate income for the owner through growing and harvesting trees. Where a THP is only good for one cutting cycle, an NTMP is the preferred alternative for landowners who intend to hold onto their property for a long time. A sustained yield plan, a required component of an NTMP, is prepared by determining standing volume and growth rates of the existing forest over the property. Growth rates are then projected into the future and the NTMP allows the permit holder to cut the stand growth in any given cycle. NTMP’s tend to run about 30% more in initial cost but pay for themselves by the second harvest.