Green Horizons

High-grading is taking the best and leaving the rest. Diameter limit cuts, sometimes called “selection cuts,” can be a form of high-grading. Usually all good trees over 10-12 inches at breast height are cut. This can rob the landowner of value by cutting trees before they have grown to their most profitable size. Larger trees have more volume and the potential to be of higher quality. Allowing them to mature increases profits!

Without any direction from the landowner and their professional forester, it’s only natural for most loggers to cut the biggest, tallest and straightest trees. This leaves mostly the poorly formed and less vigorous trees. Your remaining forest is stocked with trees that are unable to take advantage of the new growing space left them by harvesting. Your future growth is invested in your worst trees.

Plus, these are the trees that will produce tomorrow’s seedlings and sprouts. This degrades your forest over time. A good analogy would be a livestock producer who sends his best breeding heifers to market. The resulting breeding stock does not produce high quality offspring and the quality of the herd declines over time.

In the average woodland, many of your best, healthiest trees should be left to grow and increase in value while providing wildlife benefits. Over time you will make significantly more money by investing growth in your best trees!