Does tree clearing pay for itself?

[Philip Hensley]

I am in the process of reading Doak's "Anatomy of a Golf Course" for the second time. In speaking on site selection, he talks about the possible high cost of land clearing if the site requires it. I've heard a couple people say recently that if you have lots of trees that need to be cleared, you should be able to make money or at least break even on the clearing because the trees can be sold for lumber. But another person said you wouldn't make as much money as you think because not every tree is usable in that regard.

So what is the deal with clearing land? Does it depend on what you're clearing? Is there really a scenario where you could come out ahead financially if your land had lots of trees on it?

[Dan Herrmann]

I'd think much of the value would depend on the species of trees to be harvested.

[BCowan]

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,58903.0.html

[Kevin Lynch]

Typically, a lumber company will want to purchase rights over an extended period, so they can harvest prime lumber and give some other woods time to mature, so you wouldn't get an ideal price if you require an immediate clearing. 

Also, if you were in a situation where you may be able to make money off of timber rights (many hardwoods that are usable), I'd suggest that the owner of the property may have already availed himself of that revenue stream.

As Tom mentioned in the link, any lumber revenue would merely be an offset to the actual clearing costs for the items that you can't sell (roots, non-hardwoods, less than mature trees).

[Philip Hensley]

Good points by all. Thanks for the link Ben.

[Paul Gray]

No idea about tree clearance for a new course.

I would however be very interested to know if anyone has figures for reduced costs as a result of tree clearance/renovation projects. I imagine it would be a very difficult thing to quantify but it would be nice to know. Then there's the issue of increased green fee revenue as a result of healthier turf.

[Ian Andrew]

No

Even when you have decent timber, there is always enough "other" that requires removal and you never break even.

Then you must pay for:
1. the brush must be collected and disposed of (usually in house - but that's a cost)
2. the open ground must be cleared/cleaned and then seeded to something "you want" or you'll get new trees

So never budget to break even ever.

[Jaeger Kovich]

Even if you can sell the trees, those guys are not going to pull out stumps and roots. Without the leverage, all that stuff gets much more complicated, and would now take much longer too.

[Jeff_Brauer]

The last two posts echo my experience.  A total clearing price might be $2000 per acre, and if you let the harvest company take the logs, the "remaining" stumping and grinding price from the golf contractor is usually about $1999 per acre.......

In addition, you have to make sure the timber company has enough time to harvest faster than you need the area to work.  Not to mention, you want to save the largest, tallest trees, and the loggers want them for them as much as you do.  Have to put someone out on site to make sure they only take the trees you want them to.