Mike -

Around here, we have overgrown scotch pine Christmas trees. One producer told me he'd

take all I could get him, and he'd pay 50 cents/ton. Told me I could make thousands
just by
shifting paperwork. He's just bought himself a new skidder for the future
opportunity. Anytime
you go out on a limb in a business you're taking a risk. So be it. Either take it or
don't.
We all stand out on a limb at one time or the other. This business is a bit like
brokering stocks,
and even the best brokers that have all their homework done lose sometimes,
HOWEVER...(see note below).

If the utilization of small wood rather than slashing it is the goal
- as I'd suppose it would be with a fire prevention sale - unrealistic
low bids should never be accepted in a down pulp or chip&saw market. You
want 4 inch tops to be merch even at a distance from the landing. Maybe
even 2 inch tops if a processor is used. It's the TSO's job to enforce
the contract provisions and he'll have a much easier time of it if they
make sense. Or else you'll get mass defaults such as happened in the
early '90s.


...I do not believe it the forester's legal duty to stand by the cruise if sold on a
lump sum basis, but I certainly believe it is the ethical and moral responsibility
to ensure the volumes are as close to possible to being accurate. It's just a
matter of time before the courts change the legality of this.

-GK

P.S. In the state of Georgia, real estate sellers will not list the square foot size
of a home, because buyers have sued and won over the basis of "estimates".
Disclaimers are only documentation, not protection against successful litigation. If
you are refusing bids from producers, you'd better damn well know their markets,
because they could drag you into court pretty fast (especially when done on public
land).