The Consultant - 2018 - 38

FEATURE

CASE STUDY

Richland Township Woods, North Central Indiana
BRUCE WAKELAND, ACF, CF

T

hirty-seven growing seasons
ago, in January of 1980 and at
31 years of age, I purchased a
16-acre parcel that included a
4-acre cornfield and 12 acres of woods.
My primary purpose was a long-term
timber production investment. I also
decided to track the growth of the timber
and the cost and income from sales, so
that someday I could write an article
such as this. I paid $1,150 per acre for
16 acres. I planted the 4-acre cornfield
to trees in the spring of 1981. Of the
remaining 12 acres, 1.5 acres was a
stand of young elm. I sold the elm as
firewood and planted black walnut.
These 5.5 acres of tree plantings are
doing very well and will be a good
topic for a future article; however, this
article is about the productivity of the
remaining 10.5 acres of woodland.
This woodland is located on rolling glacial till sandy loam soils, making it a little
better than the average timber producing
site for northern Indiana. This woods has
a small stream that has water flow only
during wet periods and a log yarding area
of about one-half acre within the woods
and next to the county road.

38

Previous owners had high grade harvested the woods and had periodically
grazed livestock there. This resulted in
the overstory being dominated by hickory
and low-quality oak. Hickory is a slow
growing and lower value species, making
it a poor tree to have as the main species
in a timber investment woodland.
The younger trees were much more
encouraging and the main reason
I  bought the property. These younger
trees were mostly eight to 12 inches DBH,
and included many quality black walnut
and black cherry. My 100 percent inventory of all merchantable trees 12" DBH
and larger showed there to be 5,320 board
feet per acre Doyle scale at the time of
purchase. I appraised the 1981 beginning
volume to have a stumpage timber value
of $1,010 per acre. The beginning volume
included 13 species, of which 35 percent
was hickory. This woodland was producing well below its potential because of a
poor species mix, low timber quality and
a less than ideal stocking level among
over story trees.
My first step in the management of this
woods was to have an improvement type
timber sale in 1981. This sale included

66 trees, having 19,404 bd.ft. Thirty-five
of them were over-mature hickory with the
rest being largely defective oak. After the
harvest, I did timber stand improvement
(TSI) work to complete the harvest openings, kill cull trees, cut grapevines and to
do some crop tree release among the pole
sized trees. The income from the sale, after
deducting consulting forester, timber sale
and TSI cost, was $2,919, or $278/acre.
I conducted my second timber sale
in 1995. This was also an improvement
type harvest including 99 trees, having
22,396 bd.ft. Doyle. Fifty of these trees
were hickory and the other 49 were again
mostly lower quality oak trees. I also did
TSI after the harvest, completing regeneration openings and crop tree release. The
income from this sale, after consulting
forester, TSI and sale costs were deducted,
was $3,934 or $375/acre.
In 1997, after this second harvest was
completed, I did my second 100 percent
inventory of the merchantable timber and
found 4,923 bd.ft./acre having a value of
$2,277/acre. The beginning 1980 volume
had been 5,320 bd.ft./acre with a value of
$1,010/acre. That worked out to a growth
rate of 224 board feet per acre per year,
which is a volume growth rate of 3.5 percent per year. The value per acre was now
2.25 times greater than the beginning
value. After 16 growing seasons and two
timber harvests, I was just 400 bd.ft. per
acre below my beginning timber volume,
but my timber quality, species mix and
timber value were now much better.
In 2017 I did my third 100 percent inventory of all merchantable trees. It had been
20 growing seasons since the last inventory with no timber harvested in between.
The timber volume went from 4,923 bd.ft.
per acre in 1997 to 10,190 bd.ft. per acre in
2017. That works out to 263 bd.ft. per acre
per year, for an improvement of nearly
THE CONSULTANT

2018



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Consultant - 2018

From the Executive Director End Notes
From the President ACF: Forestry, Fellowship and Value
Sharing the Stories of the Trees: ACF Distinguished Forester Jim Able
Maple Syrup: A Steigerwaldt Family Tradition
The South Carolina Chapter and Forestry Students
The Association of Consulting Foresters Celebrates 70 Years
Carbon Offsets: A Viable Opportunity for Forest Landowners?
Changes of Biblical Proportions
Forests for Fish In Michigan, Foresters and Anglers are Learning from Each Other
Case Study: Richland Township Woods, North Central Indiana
Invasive Species 101
Evaluating Forest Inventory Technology for Small Landowners
Choosing the Right Accountant or Tax Preparer
The History of Forestry in Ireland
The American Oak Project Midleton Distillery Creates Rare Irish Whiskey to Promote Sustainable Forestry
Products & Services Marketplace
Index of Advertisers
Why not Surround Yourself with the Best?
The Consultant - 2018 - Intro
The Consultant - 2018 - cover1
The Consultant - 2018 - cover2
The Consultant - 2018 - 3
The Consultant - 2018 - 4
The Consultant - 2018 - 5
The Consultant - 2018 - From the Executive Director End Notes
The Consultant - 2018 - From the President ACF: Forestry, Fellowship and Value
The Consultant - 2018 - Sharing the Stories of the Trees: ACF Distinguished Forester Jim Able
The Consultant - 2018 - 9
The Consultant - 2018 - 10
The Consultant - 2018 - 11
The Consultant - 2018 - Maple Syrup: A Steigerwaldt Family Tradition
The Consultant - 2018 - 13
The Consultant - 2018 - 14
The Consultant - 2018 - 15
The Consultant - 2018 - The South Carolina Chapter and Forestry Students
The Consultant - 2018 - 17
The Consultant - 2018 - 18
The Consultant - 2018 - 19
The Consultant - 2018 - The Association of Consulting Foresters Celebrates 70 Years
The Consultant - 2018 - 21
The Consultant - 2018 - Carbon Offsets: A Viable Opportunity for Forest Landowners?
The Consultant - 2018 - 23
The Consultant - 2018 - 24
The Consultant - 2018 - 25
The Consultant - 2018 - 26
The Consultant - 2018 - 27
The Consultant - 2018 - Changes of Biblical Proportions
The Consultant - 2018 - 29
The Consultant - 2018 - 30
The Consultant - 2018 - 31
The Consultant - 2018 - 32
The Consultant - 2018 - 33
The Consultant - 2018 - Forests for Fish In Michigan, Foresters and Anglers are Learning from Each Other
The Consultant - 2018 - 35
The Consultant - 2018 - 36
The Consultant - 2018 - 37
The Consultant - 2018 - Case Study: Richland Township Woods, North Central Indiana
The Consultant - 2018 - 39
The Consultant - 2018 - Invasive Species 101
The Consultant - 2018 - 41
The Consultant - 2018 - 42
The Consultant - 2018 - 43
The Consultant - 2018 - Evaluating Forest Inventory Technology for Small Landowners
The Consultant - 2018 - 45
The Consultant - 2018 - 46
The Consultant - 2018 - Choosing the Right Accountant or Tax Preparer
The Consultant - 2018 - The History of Forestry in Ireland
The Consultant - 2018 - 49
The Consultant - 2018 - 50
The Consultant - 2018 - 51
The Consultant - 2018 - The American Oak Project Midleton Distillery Creates Rare Irish Whiskey to Promote Sustainable Forestry
The Consultant - 2018 - 53
The Consultant - 2018 - 54
The Consultant - 2018 - 55
The Consultant - 2018 - Products & Services Marketplace
The Consultant - 2018 - 57
The Consultant - 2018 - 58
The Consultant - 2018 - 59
The Consultant - 2018 - Index of Advertisers
The Consultant - 2018 - 61
The Consultant - 2018 - Why not Surround Yourself with the Best?
The Consultant - 2018 - cover3
The Consultant - 2018 - cover4
The Consultant - 2018 - outsert1
The Consultant - 2018 - outsert2
The Consultant - 2018 - outsert3
The Consultant - 2018 - outsert4
The Consultant - 2018 - outsert5
The Consultant - 2018 - outsert6
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