The Rural Voice, 1999-10, Page 34r GREY BRUCE
FORESTRY SERVICE
Planning for Spring
TREE PLANTING
Begins NOW!
Early planning for
SPRING tree planting
makes all the difference!
Call our experienced staff to
evaluate the planting site as to
soil condition, species
compatibility, and site
preparation.
Windbreaks, Soil Erosion
Wildlife Habitat,
Stream Bank Rehabilitation,
Reforesting Marginal
Agricultural Lands
Plant your own, or we can!
Call now for more information!
Ask about our complete
forest management program.
A Co-operative Program Between:
Grey Sauhle
Conservation Authority
R.R. #4, Owen Sound N4K 5N6
(519) 376-3076
gsca@bmts.com
Saugeen Valley
Conservation Authority
R.R. #l, Hanover N4N 3B8
(519) 364-1255
svca@bmts.com
30 THE RURAL VOICE
Hardwood timber prices continue to remain strong.
Investing
in a real
growth
fund
hose people who hurried, a
T
couple of years ago, to get the
hardwood harvested from their
bush before prices dropped, might
wish they hadn't been so hasty.
Hardwood prices in general
remain strong, most western Ontario
woodlot management consultants
say, with some woods reaching new
highs.
Hard maple, the most plentiful
hardwood in most southern Ontario
woodlots, continues to have strong
prices with some recent sales hitting
$1400 per thousand board feet, says
Murray Hall of Wingham Forestry
Service. Even more valuable is black
cherry, currently fetching up to
$1600 per thousand board feet.
Even soft maple is moving fairly
well, says Hall, bringing $200-$250
per thousand board feet with
exceptional trees bringing $270 per
thousand, standing. Basswood has a
current value of about $250 per
thousand. Beech is low value right
now, bringing only $100 to $150 per
thousand.
A disappointment in the woodlot
these days is ash, Hall says. though
it's a good wood and is used for a lot
of things including the Blue Jays'
baseball bats and hockey sticks,
prices for the wood have suffered in
the last two or three years.
John Morton of Aquatic and
Wildlife Services says the surprising
note in the market in his area is there
is even a bit of a market for low
quality woods, though he's not sure
why. Perhaps, he speculates, there's a
demand from the landscaping
industry for more wood chips and
wood fibres. At any rate, it provides a
rare opportunity for people who are
thinning their evergreen plantations
to get a small return instead of the
operation being a total expense.
There is still not much of a market
for softwood lumber, Morton says.
Jim Eccles of Lands and Forests
Consulting says the continuing strong
prices proves that it's just not worth
it to harvest trees too early before
they reach optimum size just because
you're trying to hit a high market.
"If you overharvest you may get a
good return but you won't harvest
again for a long time. Prices aren't
high because there's a lot of wood
around," he says.
A lot of trees that are just reaching
their minimum cutting diameter will
double their value in the next 10
years. Left to mature these trees will
return you much more than bank
interest, Eccles says. "These trees are
paying you a 16 per cent rate of
return. There isn't any investment
vehicle that will give you that interest
rate."0