Meeting with a DEC (DNR) forester on Wed...Any suggestions?

[Robertesq1]

I am meeting with a forester for suggestions regarding my 100 acres.

Any tips, ideas or suggestions welcome

[farm hunter]

I assume you are having (or thinking of having) it logged. If this is the case, your forester will undoubtably expound on the fact that a cutover will increase browse and cover for deer and wildlife. Of course he will be correct.

All that said, don't let him talk you into (he probably will not try anyhow) an extreme cutover. If you plan to keep the property a while, make sure he knows that you want to manage for deer and wood. Make sure to leave some good seed trees, and don't take ALL of one type or other of wood.

Foresters are often well educated in other aspects of wildlife management. Pick his brain a bit on local food plots, land use for your area, and other tidbits.

[timbercruiser]

First of all, YOU should have the plan for your land. The forester then should take your ideas and develope a plan to implement them. Depending on what you have the forester do should dictate the fee you pay also. If you do a timber harvest look at the income from the timber and figure out a fair percentage you pay the forester. This can be a lot of money depending on the timber, so don't hesitate to push for a 3% or so sale percentage ( I had a sale last week for 238 acres that brought $476,000 and one a couple of weeks ago on 100 acres that brought $178,000) Don't hesitate to consult more than one forester if you don't feel very confident about the situation.