Basis (timber): The most important thing a forest owner can do for themselves when either purchasing or inheriting forest land is to have the Basis in timber established by a professional forester.  At the time of acquisition a forester estimates the volume and value of the timber.  The reason this is so important is because it can save a LOT of money when the time comes to sell the timber.  This enables the owner to qualify as a Passive Investor having the tax burden reduced through Depletion and Capital Gains treatment of the income.  The owner qualifies for a Casualty Loss if the timber is later damaged or destroyed in a sudden and unexpected manner.

Passive Investor: A person who owns timberland as an investment with the intention of harvesting timber someday but does not qualify for Material Participation in the management of their timber.

Depletion: For the forest owner Depletion is the golden egg and the goose that laid it.  With the basis established upon acquisition a forest owner can later sell timber and "Deplete" from the basis an amount that will be entirely tax free.  The taxable amount will be that amount which has grown since the time of acquisition.  Depletion is done on Form 'T', Schedule 'C' using the Adjusted Basis.

Capital Gains: Capital Gains treatment of income is important because Capital Gains income is taxed at lower rates than ordinary income and the owner will avoid paying self employment (social security) on the sale revenues.

Form 'T' (Timber): Schedule 'B' is where the forest owner establishes their Basis in timber upon acquisition.  Schedule 'C' is used for Depletion when timber is sold.

Casualty Loss: Timber is exposed to risk far longer than any other crop.  To qualify for a Casualty Loss the event causing the loss must also be sudden and unexpected, AND the forest owner must have their Basis in timber established prior to the event causing the loss.  It is unfortunate that most forest owners do not think about preparing for such a loss until after the damage has been done.

Lump Sum (timber) Sale: There are basically two ways in which payment for timber is made.  The first is under Lump Sum terms and the other is under Pay-As-Cut terms.  Both have advantages and disadvantages for the forest owner (seller) based on where the risk in the transaction is located.  With the Lump Sum sale the greatest risk is located on the buyer’s side of the table.  Most bidders will build a buffer into their bid to help ensure they don't lose money in the deal.  That means the seller may end up with less than they may have under Pay-As-Cut terms.  Forest owners with a high need for security should sell their timber on Lump Sum terms so they will know what they will receive for the timber prior to committing to sell.  Technically, once the deal is made and the contract signed (ALWAYS HAVE A WRITTEN CONTRACT), if the timber is damaged or destroyed before the timber is harvested and the contract has not expired, the buyer is the one who suffers the loss because they own the timber whether it is fully paid for or not.  This is just like buying a home.  The owner has a deed to the building, but they owe a mortgage to a lender, and the lender requires that they carry insurance so that the lender gets their money in case the house burns or is otherwise destroyed.

Pay-As-Cut (timber) Sale: Under Pay-As -Cut (PAC) terms the buyer pays the seller for the timber as it is cut rather than a predetermined amount up front (Lump Sum).  There are many, many variations on PAC terms.  The most simple is an across the board (no pun intended) dollar amount per board foot or, more often, per thousand board feet (MBF-see definition).  But usually the deal will be more complicated.  In most cases the buyer will pay a specified amount by product and quality.  On the low end may be pulpwood paid for by the ton.  Next up in value is pallet and blocking logs, then tie logs, grade logs, stave logs, and veneer.  In these deals the seller is entirely dependent upon the buyer to tell them what was cut and how much it was worth.  Not only is the seller dependent upon the honesty of the buyer, but also the skill and efficiency of the woods crew and the incentive to maximize value in the tree harvested.  Here we run into a whole set of potential problems.  First, it is not at all unusual to find 'lost' logs on sales unsupervised by a forester.  The woods crews are usually paid by the amount of volume they send to the mill, so they are in a hurry.  They may not want to go back for a single log or two even if they know it's up there.  Skill is another problem.  An untrained feller can turn a tie log into a pallet log by 'stump pull' (see definition).  That's a loss of 25%-50% of the value.  It is often more important to small mills to keep enough logs available to keep the mill running than to ensure the logs are utilized at their highest and best use.  In PAC sales the majority of the risk is on the seller.  For more information you should call a consulting forester familiar with the markets in your area.

Timber Sale Contract: Professional foresters always advocate that a forest owner selling timber have a written contract.  Quite often, however, timber is sold simply on a verbal agreement.  In truth ALL contracts are verbal; the written part is only a memorial of the agreement should a difference of opinion occur, and it frequently does when dealing with timber sales.  Once the written memorial is signed by all parties it is assumed that all is in agreement, whether or not particular words or phrases have been spoken.

Stumpage: When timber is sold as it stands in the woods it is called stumpage.  The cost of cutting, skidding, bucking, and hauling the logs to the mill is carried entirely by the buyer.  At the mill a different value is attached to the logs called mill delivered price.  It is important for the forest owner thinking of selling timber to know the difference in valuation of wood at the different points in the processing chain from the woods to the end user.  Stumpage is also called Tree Scale.

Appraisal (Timber): Timber appraisals in their simplest definition boil down to what do you have and what is it worth.  What you have includes the quantity and quality features of the standing timber.  It requires the skills of a professional forester to determine the quantity (volume), quality, and value of standing timber on a given tract of land.  The intended use of the appraisal and the intended user determine the level of complexity of the appraisal.  Some clients only desire a "ballpark" estimate that can easily be done by an experienced forester simply by walking through.  But a timber appraisal needed to make a decision whether to invest millions of dollars in client retirement funds requires a detailed forest inventory and highly complex appraisal.  Most Appraisers have no training as foresters and should hire a forester to assist them in the development of an appraisal which includes timber as required under the competency rule of the Uniform Standards of Standard Appraisal Practice.

REIT: A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a company that sells stock on the major exchanges and invests directly in real estate through ownership of properties or lending money for mortgages.  Some REIT's are set up with the specific focus on forested properties.  Many of the large timber companies have been selling off their land holdings to REIT's.  REIT's have special tax advantages and usually can deliver high returns on invested money.

TIMO: Timber Investment Management Organizations act as brokers for institutional clients and use investment portfolio money (employee retirement funds) from large companies and government agencies to invest in forestland.

____________________________________________________________________________________________ TIMO's began to develop in the 1970s after congress passed legislation to encourage institutional investors to diversify their portfolios.  They have certain tax advantages but also responsibilities. Once a property is purchased, the TIMO has the responsibility of actively managing the timberland to provide returns for the investors.  In reality they often engage in "flipping" over a period of time.  Any forest management done by a TIMO is often undone after they have met their holding time requirements and sell or ‘flip’ to the highest bidder.

Flipping: Flipping describes the practice of buying property, generally real estate, at below market value and quickly reselling it for a higher price.  Flipping can be very profitable.  Property may be bought at a wholesale price in large acreages, and then sold off as individual tracts at retail prices.  The property may be bought at below market value because the seller is unaware of the true value, or has to sell under duress, such as in a divorce.  With forestland flipping usually results in liquidation harvesting (clearcutting) of the forest.

Carbon Sequestration: Every day countless articles are written about global warming, green house gases, and other related topics.  Carbon dioxide is one culprit which is produced by the burning of fossil fuels.  Even some plants emit carbon dioxide and are net contributors, producing more carbon dioxide than oxygen.  One way to get rid of excess carbon is to grow trees.  As trees grow they 'sequester' carbon.  Recently trade in Carbon Sequestration Credits on some major exchanges, such as the Chicago Stock Exchange, has developed.  It's a bit like doing penance for committing a sin.  Companies which produce excess carbon purchase credit from those producing less than their allotment.  Effort is being made to make it profitable for forest owners to get paid for growing trees, especially for allowing them to grow longer before harvesting.

TPT: Timber Price Trends At the end of each quarter the Missouri Department of Conservation publishes a composite report (TPT) of timber prices from foresters throughout the state.  Prices are reported by species although little timber, if any, is actually sold that way.  The report is weak due to it’s inability to qualify the prices by size and product type in addition to species.  Prices provided by species are generally an average price for the total volume of all species and products.  The prices published are broken down by region.  The actual numbers are averages of averages, so they are essentially only broad brush indicators.  The prices in the TPT should NOT be taken literally, contact a forester for more details.

EQUIP: The Environmental Quality Incentives Program assists agricultural and forestry producers with conservation practices, such as planting vegetation along streams and installing waste storage facilities, to address impairments to water, air, and soil caused by agriculture or to conserve water.  EQUIP has been the darling child for funding in recent years at the expense of other programs.  Each fiscal year it is a guessing game to see which cost share shell the peanut is under.

WHIP: Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Program  WHIP is one of a multitude of government cost share programs intended to encourage land owners (not just forest land owners) to employ certain practices to develop wildlife habitat.  While it is desirable to improve and restore wildlife habitat, especially for rare, threatened, and endangered species, this program and others like it basically boil down to creating good habitat for game species for a select group of land owners at the publics expense.

FLEP: Forest Land Enhancement Program.  FLEP is one of many cost share programs the government uses as an incentive to encourage forest owners to manage their forests.  And like all forestry related cost share programs some years the funding is good and in other years the funding is poor.  Like most cost share programs the money comes from federal coffers and is distributed in cooperation with the state forestry agency.  Much of the funding goes simply to administration and it conflicts with the message that "Forest Management Pays".  The recipients of cost share funds are not the poor and destitute, but rather people who are relatively affluent, professionals in their own fields, and owners of large tracts.  FLEP was supposed to replace the Stewardship Incentives Program (SIP), which came to life in the 1990 Farm Bill.  Funding in recent years has been negligible for FLEP with the money going under the EQUIP shell and others instead.

Cost Share: Cost Sharing as pertains to forest management has its origin in farm cost share programs.  There are many cost share programs that provide money to individual land owners to perform certain practices intended to improve, restore, or conserve natural resources.  There are so many cost share programs that even those charged with their administration cannot keep track of all the codes, requirements, procedures.  Most cost share programs are federally funded but administered in cooperation with the state forestry agencies, which in turn take a cut for doing so.  The percentage of all cost share program monies that go to administration versus the amount that is actually used on the ground is a well kept secret.  In the end most cost share funds do not go to poor farmers or destitute land owners who are barely making ends meet.  Rather, most cost share funding for forestry and wildlife related practices goes to people who are fairly affluent, professionals in their own fields, and owners of large tracts.  They are often also absentee owners, so the 'farm' is their recreation property.

Forest Certification: Forest Certification is one of the latest major developments in forest management.  The idea is best understood by analogy with the organic foods market.  A certain segment of society is concerned enough about their health to purchase organically grown foods if they can.  In order for a food item to be sold as organically grown it must be proven that it was indeed grown organically in accordance with a set of standards.  In similar fashion there is a growing segment of society that wishes to use products in building that has been produced in such manner as to be sustainable not only for the production of wood but also sustaining wildlife populations, soil conservation, water quality, and local economies.  The two major certification programs in the US are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).  FSC certification is by far the most rigorous.  Demand for certified wood products is much higher in Europe and Asia than it is in the US.  Saint Louis is Ranked #7 in the top 10 US Cities in 'Green" building but ironically, most of the materials are coming from out of state because few forest owners and few wood producers have tapped into the certified wood business.

Certified Forest Products: Wood products that come from forests that are certified as sustainably managed or through resource managers who are certified and manage the particular forest can be stamped with a Certified Forest Product label under one of the two major certification organizations operating in the US.  The intent is for end users to pay a small premium for Certified Forest Products for the satisfaction in knowing that the products they are using are not coming from sources using destructive methods.  Demand for Certified Wood Products is growing in the US, but is much higher in Europe and Asia.

Board Foot: The technical definition of a board foot is a piece of wood that is one inch thick, one foot wide, and one foot long-in other words a square piece of wood one inch thick.  There are 144 square inches in a board foot (12" X 12").  End user products, however, allow for shrinkage and planning, while still charging for a full board foot.  A standard 2 X 4 measures 12 inches X 32 inches in reality, and that is being generous.  The board foot is the standard unit of measure for most wood products whether they will actually be sawn into boards or not.

Tree Scale: Tree scale is an estimate of volume in a particular tree or stand of trees.  Professional foresters measure the Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) and count the number of eight foot cuts in a tree to look up the volume in a table.  Usually log scale will be higher than tree scale and mill tally will exceed log scale.  There are many variables that affect the volume actually cut from a particular tract of timber.  Log crew skill and efficiency will have an affect.  Mills usually have the logs cut at various lengths, not just the 8 foot length used for tree scale, and cut various products rather than the 1” thick boards the log rule is based on.

Log Scale: Once a tree is cut down it is topped and skidded to a landing or decking area it is cut into logs.  Some woods crews are beginning to haul tree length logs to the mill, but whether in the woods or at the mill the tree must be turned into logs for the next processing step.  Log length will depend on the product the buyer intends to cut. Logs are measured for volume by measuring the diameter of the small end of the log and its length.  The volume can then be looked up in a table or directly off a log scale stick.  There are several different log rules used to measure volume in logs, each resulting in very different volumes.  It can be very confusing even to those who work in the field.  There is a need for standardization just as we have for gallons of gas or pounds of ham.

Mill Tally: Mill Tally is the volume in board feet that comes out the far end of the mill after being sawed.  Some buyers will make an offer to purchase timber based on what they actually cut out of the timber.  Ideally this would be a perfect deal because the buyer would have little risk on their side of the table and the seller would be able to take advantage of the value added product price.  But ideal conditions are rare.  Utilization of logs varies from mill to mill dependent upon the markets they have.  Some mills are good at cutting to the highest and best use of logs and others are not.  Efficiency in most Missouri mills is low in comparison with mills in other states.  Knowledge and skill of the sawyer varies from mill to mill.  Some small family operated mills place higher priority on maintaining enough work to keep the crew busy than on highest and best use utilization of each log.

Trim: Each log has a certain amount of trim added to it so that in the processing chain there is a buffer ensuring that the desired product may be produced.  Trim in the Missouri forest products industry can amount to a significant amount of wood that is not measured, accounted or paid for.  Trim is necessary no matter what products are to be made or where the processing takes place.

Log Rules: A log rule is the set of standards used to estimate the board feet in logs or standing trees; many different log rules have been developed over the years.  Some apply more to certain species or product than others.  Western log rules are very different from log rules used in the Central Hardwoods region.  While log rules are necessary to measure wood in order to sell it, the whole subject is very complicated and difficult to understand.  Making it an ideal condition for one party to take advantage over another.  Some states have established which log rule will be used by law, having written standards which all parties must follow.  Missouri has no standard log rule.  In Missouri different log rules are used in different regions and even within regions for different products.  It’s an ideal condition for fraud.  When we buy a gallon of gas or a pound of ham we have the security of knowing it’s the same from one store to the next.  For timber there is no oversight and no set of standards to which all parties are held.  In fact, every mill has its own unique way of scaling, if they scale at all, which is different from the mill down the road.  There is a real need for standardization so that everyone can be on the same page no matter how accurate the selected log rule is or is not.

International ¼ Inch Scale: The International 3 Inch Scale has always been considered the most accurate of all the log scales.  It assumes a taper rate of one inch (1") per four foot length (see form class definition).  It also assumes that the log will be milled with a round saw blade 3 inch in width.  The important thing for the forest owner thinking about selling timber to know is first, that there is a significant difference in the various log rules and it is important that all bids and bidders are using the same log rule.

Doyle Scale: Doyle Scale is used because it under scales all logs under thirty inches (30") in diameter on the small end, which includes 99.9% of all logs cut in Missouri.  Basically Doyle scale is a ruse.  It is standard practice to buy grade logs on Doyle Scale even in areas that use the International 3 Inch Scale for most purposes.

MBF: "M" is the Roman numeral 1,000 and BF stands for Board Foot.  Translated MBF means one thousand board feet; it is the common unit of measurement used by foresters and the forest products industry in reference to standing timber or logs.  Although it sounds fairly straightforward and simple the associated "Log Rule" or "Scale" must be identified to be accurate and meaningful, (See definitions of Log Rules)

Tons (wood) Scale: Measurement of wood in tons has become very popular in other states and is growing in use in Missouri.  On the surface this would seem to be a very fair and standard means of measuring wood.  Everyone understands what a ton is (2,000 pounds) and scales are monitored by the state to ensure accuracy.  But there are several pitfalls.  Different species weigh differently and most loads are a mix of species.  Different sizes of the same species also weigh differently.  Even logs of the same species and size can weigh differently depending on where they grew.  A forest owner can lose a lot of money if a load of his logs set on the truck or in the log deck over a weekend during the summer.

Cubic Feet Scale: If there is one measure of wood that could be considered most pure and best for standardization in wood measurement it would be Cubic Feet.  It uses the same variables as other rules, Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) and merchantable height, but it does not attempt to account for the amount of wood that may or may not become sawdust.  It is much more likely that two people will come up with the same estimate of volume using cubic feet rather than with other log rules.

Cord (wood): The cord is the common measure of firewood.  It has the standard definition of a stack of wood four feet high by eight feet long in three rows of wood pieces each being sixteen inches in length (4'x8'x4').  It is also used as a measure for pulpwood.  A cord of wood roughly equates to 1,500 Board Feet.

Rank: Foresters who have not grown up in the Missouri Ozarks hear the term "rank" used in reference to firewood.  Not wanting to look incompetent most will keep their mouth shut, then run to their Wood Measurements textbook to look for the term "Rank".  I know I did.  It is a fictitious measure of wood that roughly equates to a Face Cord.  In practice a "Rank" will shrink or expand depending on which party, the buyer or the seller, is most savvy.

Face Cord: A Face Cord is a stack of wood four feet high, eight feet long, of wood pieces that are 16 inches in length (4'x8'x16").

Conversion Factor: Conversion factors are numbers that can be used to convert volume from one log rule scale to another.  For example, the Timber Price Trends report published by the Missouri Department of Conservation gives a conversion factor of 1.2 to convert board feet in International 3 Inch Scale to Doyle Scale.  The problem with conversion factors is that other variables can so affect the accuracy that the number converted to is meaningless.  If the measure of wood units were standardized such as gallons at the gas pump or pounds at the grocery, it would not matter which log rule were used, so long as it was the same for everyone.

Form Class: Few forestry terms publications include form class; it is usually only discussed among foresters and many of them truly understand its importance.  Form Class describes the amount of taper in a tree.  Form class can change significantly by species, elevation, and aspect (see definition).  The importance of form class is its effect on volume.  In rough terms there is a difference of 3% per unit of form class.  Form classes in Missouri range between 74 and 82.

DBH: Diameter at Breast Height: Professional foresters measure trees by their height and by their DBH.  Tables and mathematical formulae have been developed to enable quick estimate of volume in a tree based on these two measurements.  Measurement of DBH is uniformly the diameter outside the bark 4 2 feet above ground on the uphill side of the tree.  Each forester must learn where that point is in relation to their own height.  DBH is the same for every forester in every state.

Forest Inventory: A forest inventory is like any other inventory in that it is a measure of the marketable units contained in a given area.  But unlike an inventory of cans of beans on the shelf or computers in stock a forest inventory is necessarily accomplished by sampling.  It is completely unreasonable to attempt to measure and count every tree on 40 acres, or 100, or 1,000.  Because it is a sample there is a degree of accuracy.  In other words, we estimate the volume on a given tract but it may be actually higher or lower than we say it is.  In statistics we are able to measure our own degree of accuracy and we know how much higher or lower than our average the true volume could be.  The whole subject of statistics is very complicated and most foresters don't try to communicate the information to their clients because of it.  In fact, there are quite a few foresters who don't have a working knowledge of statistics and don't bother to consider it in their work.  A forest inventory in the professional lingo is often referred to as a Timber Cruise.

Timber Cruise: The term used in professional forestry circles in reference to an estimate of volume on a given tract.  It is an inventory of the marketable forest products using a sampling system and statistics.  Also known as a Forest Inventory.

Grade (logs/lumber): Grade logs are simply logs that are high quality and can be turned into grade lumber or other high value products.  Grade lumber is used for cabinetry, expensive doors, and other high end use products.  Grade logs can be of almost any species but most usually oaks in the Missouri Ozarks.  When timber sells at low prices (vs. prices for the same log in another state) the incentive to maximize highest and best use of each log becomes irrelevant, so many grade logs are under utilized.  Grade logs are penalized in terms of volume to increase the profit margin.  This is done by switching the log rule for grade logs from International 3 log scale to Doyle log scale.  Doyle scale underestimates the volume for any log under 30 inches in diameter, which includes most of the logs that exist in the Missouri Ozarks.  Prices paid are higher, but volume is much lower, requiring an additional step in calculating whether it’s worth selling the log into the grade market or pushing it through as a pallet and tie log.

Tie (logs): Railroad ties are highly desired by most sawmills in the Missouri Ozarks.  Ties can be made from most tree species grown in the Missouri Ozarks but oak is the most common; there are many different sizes and many different grades of each tie size.  When the market is 'hot' for ties the grading by the tie buyers relaxes; when the market supply reaches saturation the grading tightens up.  You can see this when you drive down the road and pass trucks loaded with ties.  If the market is 'hot' you will see many of the ties with wane (rounded corners) on them.  The most highly desired tie log is the 7x9 inch, 9 foot 4 inch long tie.  When a sawmill cuts a tie they gain a significant amount of volume because they are not making the cuts that would otherwise turn a 1/4 inch wide section of wood into sawdust.  Unfortunately, grade logs are often turned into ties, partially due to sagging prices in the grade lumber market and partially due to the fact that most timber is sold too cheaply.

Stave (logs): Staves are the sides of wooden barrels.  Only trees in the white oak group can be used to make barrel staves because the wood cells fill up with a waxy type substance that prevents liquids from penetrating.  Only clear wood can be used to make staves.

Veneer (logs): Veneer is the highest quality and clearest wood and is the most valuable of all wood products.  Only about 2-3 percent of Missouri trees every make veneer.  This is due mostly to the lack of management and the tendency to cut good growing stock trees before they reach maturity.

Pallet (logs): Wood pallets are used to move manufactured goods in mass from the point of production to the end user market.  Pallet boards may be made from small logs.  On the average about 50-60 percent of the volume from a harvest is in pallet logs.  Pallet logs are the lowest value logs that are sawn into products.

Blocking (logs): Blocking is 4x4 inch square pieces that are used in the trucking industry to 'block' the load to keep it from shifting during transport.  Blocking logs and pallet logs are considered the same in valuation.

Pole (Utility): Trees used for utility poles in the Missouri Ozarks are generally pine trees.  They must be very straight and meet certain length requirements be made into utility poles.  Trees meeting the standards are very valuable but usually comprise a very small percentage of a forest stand.

Wane: Trees naturally grow with a round or oval shape, but we use wood in pieces that are square, that have 90° angles and sharp corners.  When a log goes through the mill there are rounded edges which were the outside portion of the tree.  Some products can allow a certain amount or wane to remain on the end use wood and some do not.

Survey: Survey is a term sometimes used loosely to include forest inventory, appraisal, or simply an on site evaluation by a professional forester for management recommendations.  It is more accurate to use the word survey in reference to a land survey.  Since land surveyors are licensed and their work is defined by legal code it is important that the true meaning is well established so as not to cross the line into work that is legally the purview of a licensed surveyor.

Acre: An acre is 43,560 square feet, vs. a hectare which is 10,000 square meters.  One hectare equals 2.471 acres.  In the United States the acre is the most common form of land measurement.

Group Selection (Timber Harvest): Groups of trees are intentionally harvested to achieve a pre-determined objective.  A group of trees may be selected to harvest where the majority of the trees are mature and or defective and there are too few good trees to continue to grow.  Group Selection is like a miniature Clear Cut, only on a very small scale.  It is not as unsightly as a true Clear Cut.

Shelterwood (Timber Harvest): A Shelterwood harvest leaves trees to provide protection of the developing forest intended to replace the current stand.

Seed Tree (Timber Harvest): In a Seed Tree harvest only a few trees are left to provide seed.  It will appear very much like a Clear Cut.

Clear Cut (Timber Harvest): Clear Cutting is the most repulsive of all timber harvests to most people.  There are conditions in which a Clear Cut would be ‘prescribed’ by a professional forester, but most clear cuts are done for financial reasons and not for forest management reasons.

Regeneration (Timber Harvest): A Regeneration Harvest is done with the intention of promoting the growth of a new forest.  It is also a clearcut in appearance, but one done by ‘prescription’.  In the Missouri Ozarks stump sprouting is triggered by hormonal changes that occur when the tree is cut.

Selection (Timber Harvest): A selection harvest is one in which trees are individually selected for harvest.  But there is a great difference between a selection harvest done by a forester in accordance with a ‘prescription’ and one in which the selection is done based on the value of the tree for the products it can provide.  When the trees are selected solely for product the results are a 'high grade'; the best trees are removed and the rest are left to produce the next forest.  The forests of the Missouri Ozarks have been high graded so much that the current forests are only a shadow of their true potential.

Real Estate (Timber Harvest): A 'Real Estate' harvest is a term used when the intention is to maximize revenues by harvesting the timber then selling the land later.  Most of the value in the timber is taken out, but enough trees are left so that the area appears to the unsuspecting buyer like a forest.  This is also called a high grade.  For the preceding owner this is the only real way to maximize the revenue from the property because timber is rarely measured and appraised.  Forest land in Missouri is often sold, harvested, and then resold for the same amount.  The timber ends up being free.

Diameter Limit (Timber Harvest):  Selling timber based on diameter limit is the most common way of designating which trees will be harvested.  The result is a high graded forest where the best trees are cut and the rest are left to produce the next forest.  This has been repeated across the Missouri Ozarks so many times that we see only a shadow of the forest that could be growing here and which formerly did.  The forest owner will receive an offer to buy all the timber of a certain size and larger.  Few forest owners hire the services of a professional forester to intentionally manage their forest.

Liquidation (Timber Harvest): All or most of the marketable timber is cut-liquidated.  Mills commonly purchase land and timber together, liquidate the timber, then resell or flip (see also flipping) the land.  The forest owner selling to the mill usually is not aware of the true value of the land and timber, or has to sell under duress of some sort.  Liquidation harvesting equates to other definitions such as a High Grade, Clearcut, or Real Estate Cut.

High Grade (Timber Harvest): most simply High Grading is taking the best and leaving the rest.  High Grade harvesting has occurred so many times across the Ozarks such that the forest we see now is only a shadow of what formerly grew here, and what can grow here.  Professional foresters also call it the Green Lie because while trees are left after the harvesting is done, the owner generally does not realize what has occurred.  The next forest is made from the runts, defective, and less desirable tree species (hickory especially). If a farmer repeatedly sold off the best stock and kept the worst for breeding new stock the succeeding generations would be less and less desirable; the same is true of the forest.  Most timber harvesting in the Missouri Ozarks results in a high grade. 

SMZ: Stream Management Zone is a protective buffer area on either side of a stream designed to reduce or prevent soil erosion during timber harvesting.  The real goal is clean water.  The details regarding SMZs are found in each state’s Best Management Practices guidelines and are left up to the forester to implement on harvests they administer.  In Missouri stream protection measures are voluntary, so few timber operators use them on their own.  Timber operators who do use SMZ protection measures are in effect pnalized for doing so because their competition does not lose the time and expense it requires.  Only by act of law would SMZ protection be required.

BMP: Best Management Practices are the actions that can be taken to minimize or eliminate erosion due to Haul Roads and Skid Roads/Trails.  BMP’s include Stream Management Zone (SMZ) rules.  In Missouri BMP's are  called Watershed Protection Practices instead of BMP's.  In some other states use of BMP's is mandatory; in Missouri all soil and stream protection measures associated with logging are completely voluntary and few timber operators follow the guidelines.  Only an act of law would level the field for all.

Skidder: A large tractor like machine used to pull logs from the place where they were cut to the Log Landing/Deck.  Skidders have very large rubber tires with 4-wheel drive.  They have a blade in the front used to push dirt and small trees out of the way.  There are cable Skidders and grapple Skidders.  Cable skidders require the driver to stop, get off the skidder, and set the cable around each log.  Grapple Skidders allow the driver to back up to each log and grab it.  Good work can be done by both types of Skidder if the driver is skilled, but grapple skidders generally do more damage.

Skidder Driver/Operator: The person who drives the skidder to pick up the logs from where they have been felled to pull up to the log landing/deck is the skidder driver.  A skilled skidder driver can perform the task with minimal damage to residual trees and without cutting ruts into the soil.  Professional harvester training is available in Missouri to those who choose to attend, but actual practice in the forest has been little impacted.

Skid Road/Trail: A Skid Road is the main trail used to pull timber up to the Log Landing/Deck from where the tree was felled.  The term itself is a historic holdover from the days when logs were Skidded with animals (horses, mules, oxen) on tracks made with small logs half buried into the ground.  Skid Roads are the major source of erosion due to harvesting of timber, but with proper treatment the erosion can be minimized or prevented.

Haul Road: Haul roads are how log trucks get in to load up the logs and haul them out to the mill.  They are usually located on ridges or in valleys.  They are a major source of erosion/sedimentation, but with proper design, construction, and treatment this problem can be minimized or eliminated.

SDZ: Some harvesting contracts include maps showing Slash Disposal Zones which are areas where the logging crew is required to reduce the slash below a certain height so it is not as visible and displeasing to the public.

Cull: Any tree or individual log that cannot be utilized as a forest product is a cull.

Log Landing/Deck: Once a tree is cut down and the top and main branches have been removed, the "log" is then "skidded" up to the log landing or deck.  At the deck another worker will "buck" the tree length log into smaller logs by size and product specifications.  Some operations are able to haul tree length logs to the mill without having them "bucked" in the woods.  Either way it is at the log landing or deck where the logs are loaded onto trucks to be hauled out of the woods to the mill.

Log: A log is a segment of wood cut from a tree for the purpose of converting it into wood products.  Logs may be of various lengths from a minimum of 8 feet, plus trim, to a maximum of full tree length minus the top and branches.

Logger: A person engaged in one or more of the tasks necessary to convert standing trees into logs and deliver them to the mill.  Loosely applied the term includes the faller (person who cuts the tree down and tops it), the skidder driver, the bucker (person who cuts tree length logs into the various sizes based on product specifications), the person who loads the logs onto a truck and the truck driver.

Silviculture: In its simplest definition silviculture is the intentional management of the forest with a particular set of goals in mind.  It brings together all the ecology, physiology, soil science, etc. and becomes as much an art as it is science; it is the heart and soul of most professional foresters.

Forest: A forest is a plant and animal community dominated by trees.  Simple.  Forests have a natural balance and resilience that enables them to continue into perpetuity though all but the most devastating natural or man made catastrophes.  Forests provide enormous benefits for all mankind.  They clean our air and water, provide wood for our homes and buildings, buffer the wind and give us shade, improve the soil, prevent erosion, and a near endless number of other benefits.  The forests of the world need and deserve our care, and we need them.

Forest Management: Managing the forest is in many ways similar to managing anything else; it requires that we approach it with intent.  Heretofore forest management has been limited to only taking from the forest whatever happened to grow there on its own, as soon as any sort of profit could be gained from it.  To intentionally manage the forest we must first have the intention to do so, and then set goals for our forest, then map out the necessary steps achieve those goals.  The 'map' we need is the forest management plan.  You will need the assistance of a professional forester to write a forest management plan but YOU, the forest owner, are the decision maker, not the forester.

Forest Management Plan: A forest management plan is the 'map' the forest owner follows to achieve a predetermined set of goals.  It is the forester’s responsibility to provide the advice and information the forest owner needs to make the decisions that best suit their personal goals and values. The forester is generally the one who actually writes the plan and carries out most of the work.  In practice, forest management plans are for foresters, not forest owners.  Few forest owners refer back to their management plans as management progresses.  They rely on the forester to take care of their forest as agreed while they take care of their own jobs and families.  The plan may be very simple or extremely complicated depending upon the size of the forest and the objectives to be achieved.  Written forest management plans are the key to many programs, such as Tree Farm, and for cost sharing on forest management practices.

Forester: A forester is a person who has earned at least a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree from a Society of American Foresters accredited college.  In some states a forester must also pass an exam and be registered (as in Arkansas), certified (Connecticut), or licensed (California).  A forester, just as with any professional field, should have to meet a certain minimum set of standards in order to claim the title and practice forestry.  Unfortunately the only effort ever attempted to 'raise the bar' in Missouri met with reluctant support from the state forestry agency and with opposition from the forest products industry; the bill was defeated in committee.  The current situation is that anyone may call themselves a forester and claim to practice forestry.

Thinning: Thinning can be used in reference to a commercial thinning where individual trees are selectively harvested, leaving some trees uncut to form the residual stand, and it can be used to mean a thinning and/or weeding of a forest stand in which there are no marketable products.  As with many terms in forestry, thinning is a loosely defined term that needs clarification with regard for the area in question for full understanding.

Stewardship: Every year new buzzwords appear in the vocabulary used by natural resource professionals.  Stewardship was originally a good word to use to communicate care for the environment.  But the term has become so overused that its true intent has lost its impact.  Stewardship means that we are given the responsibility to care for the forests and natural resources we impact.  It means that we are to be good "stewards" of the land we own and share.

Crown: The top of a tree containing all the small branches and leaves is the crown of the tree.  The crown is the food production and hormone control center of the tree.

Canopy: The canopy is the collective term referring to all the tree crowns in a particular forest.  A 'closed' canopy is one where the trees are overcrowded and prevent most of the sunlight from reaching the forest floor.  This can limit or prevent the development of young seedlings that are needed to produce the future forest.  An 'open' canopy allows more sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor.

Competing Vegetation: Professional foresters attempting to establish or re-establish a forest by planting must have a plan to deal with competing vegetation that exists or is expected to exist that could hamper the survival and growth of the tender young seedlings fresh from an ideal life in the nursery.  Competing vegetation includes re-sprouts from stumps, grasses, weeds, and vines which will need to be controlled either by site preparation prior to planting or by release after planting.

Invasive Exotic: Plants and animals we drag in from other countries tend to behave in one of two ways.  Either they are benign, not reproducing rapidly or at all, or they find the perfect world where they grow rampantly because they have no natural controls.  The latter are what we refer to as "invasive exotics".  Every plant or animal that comes in from somewhere else takes the place of something natural.  The presence and expansion of invasive exotics reduces the overall diversity of species.  Some examples of invasive exotics are fescue, mimosa, Japanese honeysuckle, eounymous, kudzu, gypsy moth, and zebra mussel.  When gypsy moth and garlic mustard arrive in Missouri, our forests will be dramatically changed.

LTM: Leave Tree Mark If the objective of a harvest is to remove the majority of marketable sized trees but a complete clear cut is not desired the forester may choose to mark the trees to be left after the harvest.  It saves time and allows the cost to benefit ratio to be favorable.

CTM: The most common method of marking timber for harvest is a Cut Tree Mark meaning that the only trees that are to be harvested are the ones that are marked.  The forested marks the tree with paint up high to be seen by the logging crew, and down low so that later, once the trees have been cut, the forester can confirm that the tree was intended to be cut.  Tracing chemicals are sometimes used to prevent theft.  Global Positioning Satellite Systems (GPS) may also be used to mark the location of valuable trees the forester intends to leave for further growth.

TSI: Thinning and Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) are often used interchangeably, which can confuse forest owners unfamiliar with the lingo.  Among themselves, foresters will use the abbreviation 'TSI' when they are referring to the practice of thinning a stand pre-commercially.  Pre-commercial Thinning (PCT) is another abbreviation used that means the same thing.  Usually a forester using either TSI or PCT is meaning to describe a "free thin" practice where trees are growing too densely and the prescription is to thin to reduce the competition.  Trees to be removed include trees that are undesirable due to species (elm, hickory, beech, black gum, sweet gum, etc) and trees which are crooked or in some way defective.

Release: Release is a simple concept to understand as it relates to forest management.  When one or several trees are competing with a crop tree, we have the option to 'release' it.  All too often forest owners sell timber to buyers who will only take the mature trees, releasing the smaller trees to grow.  In reality the smaller trees are often just as old as the larger trees.  The ability to respond to release depends upon the species and the true age of the tree being released.

Pre-Commercial Thin (PCT): Thinning of any forest stand before any marketable products may be made from the trees cut is a pre-commercial thin.  The term is sometimes used interchangeably with TSI (Timber Stand Improvement).  The intention for thinning is to release the preferred trees from competition.  Another way of thinking about it is that we are trying to redistribute the growth that a given acre can produce onto fewer and better trees.  Pre-commercial thinning is not as widely promoted as it should be.  Only a tiny fraction of the forested acres in the Missouri Ozarks ever gets thinned properly, even though foresters are taught that early stocking control provides the greatest return on the investment.

Pesticide: Pesticide is the general term used to describe a chemical or other agent used to kill undesirable plants or animals.  It includes herbicides (plants), insecticides, fungicides, miticides, et cetera.

Herbicide: A chemical or other agent used to kill plants. 

Den Tree: Den Trees are trees with holes or 'cavities' in them providing an entrance for wildlife to access the hollow interior for protection from weather and for nesting.  Den trees are a valuable contribution the forest provides for wildlife, and by extension, to people who hunt or otherwise enjoy the wildlife, but a dollar figure cannot be attached to a den tree.  Usually there are few enough den trees in a given area that to leave all or most of them in a timber harvest will not significantly reduce the production capability of the tract.

Habitat: Habitat is usually used to describe some feature of the environment that is needed for the survival and reproduction of wildlife.  The forest provides many different types of habitat for the animals associated with forest types.  A den tree is obviously habitat for squirrels or raccoons, but a dead snag is just as important.  Many forest dwelling animals have very specific needs within a small area that if not provided, eliminates the opportunity for the particular animal to exist, even if all the other needs are present and abundant.

Aspect: The compass direction that a hill/mountain side faces is its aspect.  It is one of the most important features controlling the growth and composition of the forest in the Missouri Ozarks.  In general, south and west facing aspects are drier and less productive than north and east aspects, but there are exceptions.

Girdling: 1) making cuts into a tree with the intention of killing it-often unsuccessful when done by a novice.  Gaps must be at least two inches deep to prevent the tree from growing over the cuts.  Best success if two cuts are made and/or herbicide is sprayed into the gap while it is fresh, 2) a root that grows around the tree ultimately resulting in the tree's death.

Seedling: Tree seedlings are literally baby trees.  A seedling can be any tree from a freshly germinated seed up to a tree that is less than 1.5 inch in Diameter at Breast Height (DBH).

Sapling (Small Tree): A tree from 2 to 6 inches in Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) in size.

Pole (Tree):  A tree from 6 to 11 inches in Diameter at Breast Height (DBH).  Large pole trees can be used for sawtimber, especially as technology advances and large mature timber becomes rarer.

Sawtimber (Tree): Trees at least 9.6 inches Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) which may be turned into any wood product by being sawn.  In older systems trees must have been at least 11 inches DBH or larger to be considered sawtimber.

Shade Tolerance: Each species of tree is physiologically different from other species in many ways.  One very important way is the tolerance of shade and/or need for sunlight.  On one end of the spectrum are trees such as dogwoods and maples which are very tolerant of shade, and on the other end of the spectrum are trees such as black walnuts which do not tolerate shade at all.

Site Index/Class: Site Index and Site Class are measures of the land's capability to grow timber.  Growth curves are developed for each species based on height and time, which can be related to a prediction of board feet per Acre per year.  Species will vary from one another in their ability to grow timber on the same site.

Adverse Possession: The original intention of Adverse Possession was to resolve the problem situation whereby someone had been living on land later found to be legally owned by another.  Early land surveys in Missouri were often fraudulent or badly flawed.  Until recent times timberland values were very low and the exact location of property lines was not considered worth the cost of a survey.  During those low value times fences were put up and houses were built.  The law was intended to prevent people from being evicted from their homes due to honest errors.  But the law has more often been used to steal land with a fence, usually to the disadvantage of an unsuspecting land owner was unable to walk the land themselves, did not reside on the land, or who just didn’t know the true location of their property lines.  A lot of money in attorney fees is spent every year due to the misapplication of this archaic law. (Disclaimer: The preceding is NOT legal advice.  Please contact an attorney for legal advice concerning adverse possession.)

Easement: In rural Missouri literally millions of acres are owned by people who do not have legal easement to their property.  A legal easement adds considerable value to property.  Quite often land owners who have the fortune of owning land with frontage on a public road control access to tracts of land which do not.  The leverage is often used to purchase those tracts for less than they would bring with legal easement.  By state law a land owner cannot be landlocked; but in reality the owner with the public road frontage can make the owner needing access spend a lot of money in attorney fees to acquire legal access. (Disclaimer: The preceding is NOT legal advice.  Please contact an attorney for legal advice concerning easements.)

Prescriptive Easement: Prescriptive Easement is the means to acquire legal easement to one's property when proof can be established that the particular route/existing road has been used to access the property historically for 10 years or more. (Disclaimer: The preceding is NOT legal advice.  Please contact an attorney for legal advice concerning easements.)

Easement by Necessity: In cases where histor