1. Seek the advice of a professional forester. You may choose to have a forester with the Division of Forestry assist you or you may hire a consulting forester. The division will evaluate your timber and identify (marking) which trees should be removed and which should remain for the overall health of your forest. The service provided by the division is to assist you with implementation of your forest stewardship plan. The purpose of marking is to improve the quality of the stand of timber for the future. All timber markings performed by division foresters are based on sound forest management principals. This service is limited to 50 acres but waivers can be obtained for larger acreage. The cost for this service is $6 per 1,000 board feet.

2. Sell your timber by bids.  Once your timber is marked, you need to prepare a bid for advertised timber contract. This contract will spell out the details of the timber sale. Below is a sample Bid for Advertised Timber contract.

Sample Bid for an Advertised Timber Contract

In response to notification of timber for sale on your property, and after an examination of the timber to be sold and a discussion of terms, I (we),__________________________, do hereby offer the sum of ___________ dollars and__________cents as my (our) bid for the marked timber advertised.
A deposit in the form of a certified check, written in the amount of $__________, is enclosed as evidence of good faith. I understand this deposit is to be considered a part of the total sale price and will be returned to me immediately should my bid not be accepted. I understand the balance of full payment for the sale shall be due when the Contract of Sale is signed. I also understand that the time limit for removal of timber for this sale will be _____________________ from the date the Contract of Sale is signed.

If I am declared the successful bidder, I understand that a Contract of Sale will be executed within five days of notification of acceptance of my bid. It is further agreed that if the Contract of Sale is not executed, then, in view of the difficulty of estimating the actual damages sustained thereby, ______% of the deposit may be retained as liquidated damages. The sale will be re-advertised and the company or person that did not fulfill their obligations will not be permitted to bid nor will any affiliated company or person be permitted to bid.
______________________________________________
(Signature of bidder)
______________________________________________
(Firm name and full address)
_______________________________________________

All bids must be received by ________________________, and bids will be opened at _____________on___________, 20___ at _________________________________________________, ___________________, Kentucky.

All bidders are invited to the bid opening and all bids will be posted and announced.

The seller reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

3. After receiving the bids, proceed with hiring a logger, usually the highest bidder, with a written timber sale contract.  All commercial harvesting operations in Kentucky are required to have a Kentucky master logger on site and in charge. A master logger is someone who has completed a three-day training course which includes information about timber harvesting best management practices, proper tree felling and safety. You can check the Kentucky master logger Web site for a list of Kentucky master loggers in your area.