FAQ

Landowner Concerns

Forest Products Harvest Tax
The Oregon Department of Revenue will send timber tax forms usually in December and taxes are due January 31st of the following year. This is a small tax of about $3.50 per thousand board feet harvested in a particular year and is applied to all Oregon land. It exempts the first 25 thousand board feet of timber products logged each year for each landowner.

Replanting Costs
Reforestation is only required on properties where tree stocking levels have been reduced to below minimum standards based on the Oregon Forest Practices Act. These levels are determined by site class, which requires a number of stems and basal area to remain after the logging operation has terminated. Stocking tables are available in the Oregon Forest Practices Act.

The landowner also has the responsibility to establish the new stocking and monitor it until it is “free to grow”. “Free to grow” means a stand of young trees that is well distributed, are of acceptable species, vigorous, and has gained dominance in competition with surrounding vegetation.

As a general rule for a clear cut, the cost of replanting may be around $350 per acre for about 400 plus trees per acre. This cost is small as compared to the overall monetary gain from most timber harvests. This includes hiring someone to replant and the price of the trees which can vary based on quality and age. Spraying to reduce competitive vegetation is usually not needed, but can be done to help the landowner accomplish the required goals of reforestation.

What are Riparian Management Areas? (stream buffers)
A riparian management area as described by the state is “an area along each side of specified waters of the state within which vegetation retention and special management practices are required for the protection of water quality, hydrologic functions, and fish and wildlife habitat.”

Streams are designated as either fish bearing, domestic, or non-fish bearing and small, medium or large. Each designation has requirements which cover the retention of trees, logging methods and size of stream buffers. Some of these buffers require a written plan to be filed with the state and some do not. Written plans generally allow for harvesting to occur within the riparian management area as long as specific stocking levels are met. These written plans may well be worth the effort.

Stream buffers do, in fact, take some property out of income production but there are many benefits. Ask us to help you optimize your income and navigate through the permit process.