Timber Harvest Strategy

Driving by a state-owned forest the other day, I saw the telltale sign of a pending timber harvest – the 20 ton skidder parked on the edge of the woods. I was somewhat curious since this land is part of the watershed for the reservoir that quenches the thirsts of a couple million Bostonians, and I did not think that harvesting timber led to pure clean water.

So to satisfy my curiosity, I looked up the timber harvest plan to read about the rationale for this venture. The primary reason given is to cut out older trees so younger ones can grow, thus, producing a forest with different age trees, which is then more resistant to widespread damage by some bad bugs or a hurricane.

Sounds quite nice, but as I’ve learned, this is more of a theoretical concept since data to prove that harvesting leads to cleaner water is rather sparse. But there are valid arguments for this approach as well as for letting the forest continue on its own.

Though most companies I’ve seen are diligent in determining realistic pathways to profits, I have seen a number of businesses build plans and make investments with similar levels of uncertainty (and hope) to our state foresters and watershed managers. Since the data from these forest diversity experiments may take 4 or 6 decades to play out, a much briefer tactic is needed to ferret out unrealistic versus realistic strategic directions.

Rather than wade into the details of how to get to a defensible plan, here are a couple things to look for that may trigger your thinking, and cause you to examine your outlooks a little more deeply.

• The Massachusetts state foresters have come under fire from some corners for acting more like timber barons rather than stewards of the state’s resources. Have your previous results reflected what you had said you were going to do, or are the results and the plan rather unrelated?

• There is always push-back on harvesting from people who say – ‘not in my back yard.’  But do your skeptics have reasonable questions on your forecasts, growth rates, and markets? Or are they just reacting to things affecting their world in an unpleasant fashion?

• Finally the raison d’etre of the state organization is to provide clean water. There may have been similar timber harvests in other watersheds around the world, and these results should remove some uncertainty that this approach will indeed work. For your own way forward, is it a well-worn path or are you offering “a new business model”. If it’s the latter then you had best be prepared for some detractors along the way. Be sure to diligently understand your risks and uncertainties to give you confidence in your direction and to put your team members at ease.

So while the harvesters and the skidders are burning diesel and cutting trees in the pursuit of clean water, be sure that you have a good handle on whether your pathway to success is propitious. You don’t want to the cynics to be proven correct.