Selling Timber for N.H. Woodlot Owners

  • logging equipment in the woods

Foresters can help ensure positive results



Selling timber is a once in a lifetime activity for most landowners. No single activity has such power to significantly improve—or degrade—your forest. Proper harvesting can provide income, improve wildlife habitat, and result in trails, better access, views, and healthy and vigorous forests. Uncontrolled exploitive cutting can reduce these values leading to environmental degradation, public resentment and legal entanglements.

Do your homework and follow sound principles to ensure a successful timber sale:

  • Practice forestry
  • Use a written contract
  • Hire a licensed forester.

Video about a carefully considered timber harvest

By watching, you can learn how to have a carefully considered harvest on your own land that follows sound principles and meets your goals.

The following fact sheets should help:

An Overview

Use Professionals

Use a written contract

  • The Timber Sale Contract describes the key elements of a contract and also includes sample clauses and explanations of their meanings. This version contains sample contract language only.

Follow the Laws

Know about Taxes

Practice Forestry

Good Forestry in the Granite State

This guide provides landowners and the professionals who work with them practical recommendations and information on a wide variety of forest resources.  

LEARN MORE


Timber Harvesting and Silviculture

Selling timber is a once in a lifetime activity for most landowners. No single activity has such power to improve- or degrade- the forest. 

LEARN MORE


Articles

A NH Forest Products Markets Update webinar took place on July 26th, 2022. Learn More
A NH Forest Products Markets Update webinar took place on December 9th, 2021. Experts representing a range of New Hampshire Forest products markets sp... Learn More
The 23rd Annual Blackfly Breakfast took place on June 17th, 2021. Representatives from across the forest products industry provided updates in a ro... Learn More

Additional Resources

This information sheet is in response to questions concerning how remuneration is specified in a contract for timber harvests. This document was devel... Learn More
New Hampshire is one of the most densely forested states in the country. Growing forests cover 84% of the Granite State and, as a renewable resource, ... Learn More
From 1936 through 2001, with the exception of the WWII years, UNH Cooperative Extension (once known as the Cooperative Extension Service), published t... Learn More
Selling timber is a once in a lifetime activity for most landowners. No single activity has such power to improve- or degrade- the forest. Proper harv... Learn More

Belknap County

Lindsay Watkins
lindsay.watkins@unh.edu
(603) 527-5475

Carroll County

Wendy Scribner
wendy.scribner@unh.edu
603-447-3834

Cheshire County

Matt Kelly
matt.kelly@unh.edu
603-352-4550

Coös County

Ray Berthiaume
ray.berthiaume@unh.edu
603-788-4961 

Grafton County

James Frohn
jim.frohn@unh.edu
603-787-6944

Hillsborough County

Michael Gagnon
michael.gagnon@unh.edu
603-641-6060

Merrimack County

Tim Fleury
tim.fleury@unh.edu
603-255-3733

Rockingham County

Greg Jordan
greg.jordan@unh.edu
603-679-5616

Strafford County

Lindsay Watkins
lindsay.watkins@unh.edu
603-749-2529

Sullivan County

Dode Gladders
dode.gladders@unh.edu
603-863-9200

Forestry State Specialist

Steven Roberge
steven.roberge@unh.edu
603-862-4861

Forestry Information Center

forest.info@unh.edu
1-800-444-8978 within New England
603-862-3883