Forest Services

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At Wightman Lumber, we extend our range of lumber related manufacturing activities all the way back to the source of our raw materials - the forest. Our forestry related operations include the following:

1. Purchasing cutting rights on standing timber from private landowners
2. Bidding for timber cutting rights on tracts offered by independent foresters who represent private landowners
3. Harvesting stands of timber
4. Purchasing tracts of forested land (larger than 40 acres) for long term management and utilization of forest products

We purchase cutting rights on standing timber from private landowners within a 60 mile radius of our mill in Portlandville, NY on a continuing basis. One of our professional foresters will evaluate your timber lot and give you a free estimate on the value of your timber. If you like the price we will sign a contract with you covering the financial terms, what work will be done, what time frame it will be done within, and what timber will be cut. Upon signing of the timber purchase contract, we will give you a check for the agreed price. We are fully insured with both worker's compensation and liability insurance.

If you decide to use an independent forester to do the same activities that our forester does, we routinely bid on jobs that independent foresters put out for bid to the various sawmills and loggers on their list of bidders. According to the standard procedures of the independent forester, we would sign a contract stating the terms of the sale and pay for the purchase of the timber rights upon signing the contract. It would then be the landowner's responsibility to pay the independent forester his or her fee for services rendered.

All our forestry workers have partially or fully completed the "Game of Logging" safety course. We also establish a goal of treating private landowner's forests with the same respect that we treat our own forest lands. All roads are appropriately water barred to prevent soil erosion and all danger trees that are accidentally damaged during the cutting process are brought to the ground to prevent potential injury to anyone entering the forest.

Finally, through our timber land owning company, Sure Wood Forests, Inc., we buy parcels of forest land in our area for long term management to ensure future supplies of timber to our manufacturing process. Typically, we buy parcels of 40 acres and larger which are well stocked with uneven-aged stands of White Pine and/or hardwoods growing on soils suited for vigorous timber growth and ease of harvesting. We pay market prices for parcels that meet our criteria and would be happy to have one of our foresters evaluate your property free of charge should you wish to pursue this alternative. Many of our owned timberlands have some areas of open fields associated with them and those parcels have been planted with various hardwood species (Cherry and Black Walnut) and White Pine for future generations to reap the benefit of our work today. In the spring season we normally do our tree planting. During the spring of 1998 we planted over 22,000 White Pine and Cherry seedlings in various areas we own as part of our ongoing efforts to give back the the land, not just take from it.

Planting seedlings	Seedlings in protective sleeves