However, the decision has far reaching consequences beyond the immediate cash profit. You can end up paying for and living with a bad harvest job for years to come. The ramifications include detrimental impact on wildlife and fish impact, shade reduction, and fire risk. Simply put, if your timber is cut correctly, each of these potential hazards can be nullified or even turned into an asset. Then you should not rush into a timber deal in the same haphazard fashion.
Selective cutting is ideal in areas with unevenly aged or unevenly sized timber.
Areas with an over story of older, towering hardwoods and pines keep the sur stunted to sapling proportions. Hilly terrain may have a thriving stand of pulpwood size pines, with established roads from previous harvesting, with big hardwoods down in the steep hollow just a few feet away. With the shelterwood method, trees of the same basic size range are harvested in two or more cuttings. Typically, half of the timber is cut. The remaining half protects the seedling growth against the weather and erosion.