Proper management of timberland is essential to accomplish good returns from your investment and to meet your specific goals. Forest and timberland habitats reflect many natural forces which impact them. These forces are wind, ice, fire, floods, insects and disease. Many wildlife species depend on these natural disturbances to create habitat for their survival. Forest openings from these disturbances increase the availability of sunlight to the forest floor, which generates a dramatic increase of understory plants. This provides abundant cover and food for many species. This is true of most timberland nationwide, but nowhere is it more true than in South Arkansas and North Louisiana.

From a wildlife perspective, a forest can be divided into the following layers – canopy, mid-story and understory. Some forest dwelling species use all layers while others access only one or two. Although tree canopies serve as food and nesting sites for a variety of wildlife, many forest dwellers depend on food and cover at ground level. Without disturbances, the tree canopy shades out wildlife sustaining plants and impedes growth of seedlings on the forest floor. When deer management on hunting properties is the objective, it is important to encourage the growth of browse that is within easy reach.

Periodic disturbances can be imitated through harvests as part of timberland management. Thinning is a valuable forest management practice and can be conducted with wildlife in mind, or for recreational land purposes. The decision to remove a tree should be based on harvesting the lower quality and less desirable tree species. Taking the best trees decreases the overall quality of the forest for wildlife and timber production. Remove tree and shrub species that have less wildlife and economic value in order to reduce competition around the valuable crop trees. Removing the competition increases growth rates of the valuable trees and allows their crowns to expand. For timberland that has been purchased as an investment property, this means harvesting the least valuable species first to allow the most economically viable species to grow toward the next selective harvest. Increased sunlight to the understory will encourage seedlings from desirable overstory trees and increase browse and cover for wildlife underneath.

In your wildlife management plan consider how the forest will renew itself. As the forest canopy and mid-story are opened, plan for regenerating desirable tree species that do not grow in shaded conditions. Older trees will eventually die or be harvested and replaced by young seedlings. Build tree regeneration into your plan in order to increase the value of the timberland. If yours is a timberland investment property in Arkansas or Louisiana, this natural tree regeneration should be Loblolly Pines or one of the more valuable species of Oak.

Managing large timberland tracts as hunting properties, investment properties and recreational land for a sustained yield of forest products can be complicated and requires professional advice. A landowner in Arkansas or Louisiana should give serious consideration to hiring a consulting forester. Avoid the services of an unsolicited timber buyer who will often remove high quality trees and leave those with low economic and wildlife value. A good forestry consultant will mark each tree to be harvested with two spots of paint, one at eye level and one at the ground. The top spot makes the marked trees easy to locate, and the butt spot leaves paint on the stump for verification that only the marked trees were harvested.

There are many timberland properties available across South Arkansas and North Louisiana and now is a great time to buy land. Even property purchased as hunting land can be a good timberland investment property.

Timberland Real Estate specializes in the sale of rural acreage. This includes sales of plantations, farms, recreation and hunting land, timberland and development properties. They have Arkansas land for sale and Louisiana land for sale. They provide the services needed for buyers and sellers to make informed decisions throughout the land sale or acquisition process. They are located at 1705 North Vine, Magnolia, Arkansas and offer land services in South Arkansas and North Louisiana.

Timberland Real Estate is a real estate firm built for the sole purpose of selling land. They offer sales through negotiated listings or by sealed bid. They have an extensive list of buyers already compiled, to shorten the time required to secure a qualified buyer.