A:

Age Class - A classification used to distinguish trees by their size and/or merchantable use. Trees typically grow in both height and value as they age and may be used for different timber products at different growth stages.

C:

Chip-n-saw - Smaller sawlogs (usually 8 to 12 inches diameter-at-breast-height) processed on a special machine known as a “chip-n-saw” that creates sawmill chips from the rounded outsides of the logs and lumber from the core. Typically, chip-n-saw logs are larger and more valuable than pulpwood, but smaller and less valuable than sawlogs or sawtimber. Chip-n-saw offers an economical way to obtain lumber from smaller logs and wood fiber for paper-making from the residual wood chips.

Clear-cutting - The silvicultural practice of harvesting all merchantable trees within a given area at one time so that the replanted stand will include even-aged trees. This system is often used with shade-resistant species of trees that need full sunlight for proper development.

Conservation easement - An agreement between a landowner and a government or qualified organization that allows the landowner to retain possession and control of the land, but, for conservation purposes, restricts how it may be used, managed, or developed. The agreement remains in effect even if the land is sold to a new owner, and may provide for the long-term protection of the land’s natural, scenic, recreational, historical, or other value.

D:

Diameter at breast height (DBH) - The height in inches at which standing trees are commonly measured to estimate their wood volume; specifically, 4.5 feet above ground level.

E:

Ecosystem - A complex community of living things and their environment that function together as a whole in nature.

F:

Fiber supply agreement - An agreement between two parties that requires one to supply the other with a specified amount of timber (wood fiber) for a set period of time, at a set price.

Forest management - The practice of caring for, controlling, or modifying a designated forest area to achieve specific economic and environmental objectives by applying business, scientific, and social principles to the practice of forestry.

Forest manager - A forester responsible for overseeing the balance of a forest’s economic, environmental, and social viability. Forest managers typically have formal education in forestry or equivalent qualifications and may be licensed or credentialed by states or other certifying bodies.

Forestry - The science and profession of establishing, managing, and conserving trees and forests, as well as their resources, materials, and other forest products.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC^®) - A nonprofit organization devoted to encouraging the responsible management of the world’s forests through an international certification program. FSC sets high standards that ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way.

H:

Hardwood - A general term that refers to any type of deciduous, broad-leafed species such as oak, alder, cherry, mahogany, or maple, and the wood that comes from such trees. (Note that the term does not refer to the wood’s actual “hardness.”)

Harvest - The process of removing trees from the forest that have reached their targeted level of biological and/or financial maturity. A unique aspect of timberland management is the ability to time harvests to meet current market demand. Unlike farmed crops such as wheat or corn, trees do not have a limited window of time each year in which they must be harvested to avoid losing their marketable value. Therefore, tree harvests may be accelerated during opportune circumstances or left to continue growing, storing them “on the stump” during weak market conditions. This ability is utilized by many timberland managers to help regulate cash flow and has historically helped to balance timber prices across the industry by better regulating supply to match demand.

HBU (Higher-and-Better Use) - A term used to designate timberland parcels that may provide a greater economic value if they are used for purposes other than growing trees. HBU areas may include lakefront and riverfront acreage, acreage in proximity to urban areas, and acreage that is attractive to developers. Such land may be sold for development as camp lots or resorts, for example, or the development rights may be sold to a conservation organization or a state agency via a conservation easement.

L:

Loblolly pine - A prolific species of southern yellow pine grown commercially in the southeastern U.S., used primarily for lumber and pulpwood.

Log - A portion or length of the main stem (trunk) of a harvested tree.

Logging - The practice of harvesting timber and delivering it to sawmills.

Lumber - Boards or planks that have been sawn (usually on all four sides) or split from large harvested logs. Though this term is often used interchangeably with “timber,” “lumber” specifically refers to this wood product within the wood-products industry. Lumber appears in a wide variety of end-uses, including construction, flooring, paneling, and furniture.

M:

Mature timber - A stand containing trees that have reached their target size or age.

Merchantable - Timber that has reached sufficient width for it to have commercial value. Timber typically first becomes merchantable when it reaches pulpwood size.

Mill - Within the timber industry, a plant where raw timber is mechanically converted into boards, wood pulp, or other timber products. “Sawmills” are those in which lumber is manufactured, while “pulp mills” process the pulpwood fibers used by “paper mills” for paper manufacturing.

Mineral rights - An ownership interest in the minerals contained in a particular parcel of land, with or without ownership of the surface of the land. The owner of mineral rights is usually entitled to either take the minerals from the land himself or receive a royalty from the party who actually extracts the minerals.

N:

Net annual growth - The increase in the volume of healthy wood in live trees over the course of a year. Also refers to the total volume of trees that survive to sawtimber size during a given year, less those trees that died or became unsound due to natural causes during the same period.

O:

Oriented strand board (OSB) - Structural panels made from wood strands of a variety of tree species that are bonded together for strength. OSB is commonly used in housing construction.

P:

Paperboard - A thick, stiff cardboard made of layers of paper, or paper pulp, compressed together into a sheet.

Pine straw - Pine needles gathered and sold for use as landscaping mulch.

Plantation - A forest stand in which trees are grown in rows, harvested together, and replanted in the same manner, resulting in a stand containing trees that are relatively uniform in age and size. Most softwood forests in the United States owned by institutional investors (i.e., TIMOs or REITs) are managed as plantations.

Plywood - A flat wood panel made by bonding together a number of thin wood sheets or veneers in which the grain direction of each sheet is at a right angle to the one adjacent to it.

Prescribed burning - The silvicultural technique of using carefully regulated fires to control unwanted growth in a forest to support long-term health and productivity.

Pulp - The material produced when sawmill chips are reduced down either mechanically or chemically to wood fibers and then mixed with water. Pulp is commonly used in making paper or paper products.

Pulpwood - Soft wood used to produce paper, such as writing paper, newsprint, magazine paper, and tissue; paperboard, such as boxes and shipping containers; and nonwoven products, such as diapers and other absorbent products. Pulpwood is typically of lesser quality and/or size (minimum 4 to 5 inches diameter-at-breast-height) than lumber and is the first age class at which timber typically becomes merchantable.

R:

Reforestation - Also known as forest regeneration, reforestation is the process of naturally or artificially (through planting or seeding) restoring a forest that has been reduced by harvest or natural forces.

Renewable resource - A natural resource that can be replenished over time without harming the environment or exhausting the supply.

S:

Sawlogs - Logs of at least 8 feet in length that are produced from harvested sawtimber-quality trees.

Sawmill chips - In producing square lumber from round logs, sawmills are left with the rounded slabs from the outside of the log. These slabs are chipped into small pieces and sold to local pulp mills as sawmill chips.

Sawtimber - A term that refers to larger trees (usually more than 12 inches DBH) that are suitable in size and quality for sawing into lumber or “sawlogs.” Sawtimber is typically larger and more valuable than pulpwood and is used to make lumber for use in housing construction, flooring, posts and poles, railroad ties, furniture, and for many other uses.

Seedlings - A term referring to young trees of less than a foot in height, from the time they are planted until they are one to two years old.

Silviculture - The science of cultivating timber stands to improve tree growth. Silvicultural treatments may include preparing the land for planting trees, controlling weeds and undesirable tree species, and applying fertilizer. The proper application of silviculture treatments may increase the percentage of sawtimber-sized trees found in a given tree stand at harvest time and reduce the number of years between harvests.

Silvicultural system - A process of using systematic “silvicultural” treatments to tend, harvest, and regenerate growth within a given forest area. The goal of a silvicultural system is to increase the growth rates of the trees and the quality of the wood the trees produce in order to create forests with specific characteristics.

Softwood - A general term that refers to any type of coniferous species of tree, usually evergreen, that has narrow, needle-like or scale-like leaves, and the wood that comes from such trees. (Note that the term does not refer to the wood’s actual “softness.”) Pines, spruces, firs, and cedars are all softwoods.

Species - A scientific grouping of types of trees that share common characteristics. Typically, all trees of a given species may be managed using similar forestry practices.

Stand - A group of trees growing in a given area that are enough alike in composition, age, and/or condition to form a forest management unit, distinct from other tree groups in the same area.

Stocking - A measure of the timber inventory within a given forest area in relation to what is considered optimal or desirable for that area. This measure is used to determine whether a tree stand is well-stocked, understocked, or overstocked.

Stumpage - Standing, uncut timber and/or its estimated value.

Sustainable forestry - The practice of managing timberlands for commercial purposes in a manner that respects and supports the long-term viability of the forest and ecosystems found there.

Sustainable Forestry Initiative^® (SFI) - A comprehensive forestry management program based on the premise that responsible environmental policy and sound business practices can be integrated to the benefit of companies, shareholders, customers, and the people they serve. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative^® (SFI) program is one of the world’s most rigorous and widely applied standards of sustainable forestry. For more information, please visit http://www.sfiprogram.org/

Sustained yield - A forest management system of periodically harvesting timber from a given forest area so that it may produce a continuous supply of timber over an indefinite length of time. Also refers to the timber yield produced by such a management system. A sustained yield management program seeks to optimally balance growth and harvest schedules for maximum return on investment.

T:

Thinning - The forest management technique of removing a portion of the competing trees in a tree stand to stimulate growth and greater yield of merchantable timber from the trees that remain. Thinning also may provide a modest source of income, if the trees removed are of merchantable size.

Timber - Trees in any state (standing, harvested, cut, etc.); also used by some to refer to lumber.

Timberland - Forested land, particularly land that produces commercial timber. Commercial timberlands, sometimes called “tree farms,” are privately owned and professionally managed to produce investment returns. Public timberland is owned by the federal government. Though public timberlands may be used for timber production, they also may be reserved for parks, wilderness areas, nature reserves, or other special purposes.

TIMO (Timberland Investment Management Organization) - An organization formed to acquire and manage timberland investments for public and/or private investors. TIMOs were developed by Congress in the 1970s to encourage institutional investors to diversify their portfolios with timberland.

Tree farm - Managed forestland on which trees are continuously replanted, grown, and harvested for commercial use.

V:

Veneer - Thin sheets of wood that are peeled or sliced from very large, high-quality logs for use as plywood or in furniture construction. Veneer logs typically are some of the largest and most valuable timber.

W:

Wood markets - A “wood market” may refer to a local mill procurement basket (an area of typically no more than 60 to 90 miles over which harvested timber must be hauled) or to regional and international export markets outside the local mill area to which timber of various species is shipped. The term also may refer to the overall market for any particular species of tree.

Y:

Yield - An estimate of the amount of wood a given forest stand may be expected to produce at various stages of tree growth, based on the stand’s location, the type and amount of trees it contains, and the style in which it is managed.