Sustainable Harvest Planner

Area Control Framework — Annual Harvest Scheduling by Stand Type

The Timberland Investor

What is area control?: Area control regulates harvest by acreage rather than volume. If you want a 60-year rotation, you can sustainably harvest 1/60th of your forest each year — ensuring the first areas cut will be ready again by the time you complete a full cycle.
Why not volume control?: Volume control tries to match annual harvest to annual growth, but both are difficult to measure accurately, making error more likely. Area control is simpler and more reliable for long-term sustainability.
Harvest interval: How often you plan to enter a stand for harvest. A 10-year interval means each block of acres gets cut every 10 years. Shorter intervals suit intensive management; longer suits low-impact or wildlife objectives.

Stand type: Group your forest by species composition, age class, or management objective. Classifications can be as broad or specific as your needs require.
Target age: The age at which you plan final harvest. Choose based on your goals — maximum volume production, wildlife habitat, or financial return.
Volume per acre: Expected yield at target age. Use your own inventory data or the Forest Growth Tool to estimate. Works in Cords, Tons, or MBF — stay consistent within a stand type.
Even-aged vs. uneven-aged: Even-aged: Regeneration harvest removes most trees; stand re-establishes from scratch. Add intermediate thinnings at specific years if planned.
Uneven-aged: Selection system — a percentage of standing volume is removed each entry, maintaining continuous canopy cover.

Acres per harvest: Total acres divided by rotation periods (target age ÷ interval). This is how many acres you can sustainably cut each entry while maintaining your desired age structure.
Annual equivalents: Per-harvest figures divided by the interval length. Useful for comparing stands on a common annual basis and planning contractor capacity.
Timeline: Shows harvest events at their computed years across a 30-year window. Stands are staggered to avoid concentrating all logging in the same year. Hover a cell for details.
Small parcels: Area control is less effective on smaller properties. If acres-per-harvest falls below practical logging minimums (~5 ac), consider adjusting your harvest interval to match logistical realities.

Plan Name

Stand Types

Harvest Summary

Area control framework — acres and estimated yield per harvest event and per year

Stand Type	System	Interval	Ac / Harvest	Ac / Year	Yield / Harvest	Yield / Year

30-Year Harvest Timeline

Events computed from stand data — hover a cell for details

Regeneration Harvest

Intermediate Thinning

Selection Harvest