Ethical timber harvesting to reflect a historically natural forest.

For Wolfcamp Forestry, forestry management means working with the landowners and using the value of the harvested timber to accomplish the goals that they have for their timberland. Some landowners have a home onsite and want a carefully manicured “back forty” while others want to grow and harvest timber for income generation and investment diversification. Forestry management really does just come down to identifying landowner goals and priorities and then working with the resources that we have to accomplish them.  

Historically natural is a term we use to describe the state of the forest when it was still routinely managed by forest fire. Fire, at one time, was a regular element in the forest ecology for the western U.S. Depending on the elevation, fire would burn on a regular regime which prevented excessive fuel from accumulating in the woods. This allowed many fires to burn with a low intensity sparing the more fire resistant tree species. In the early 19th century, as the west became more populated, large scale fire suppression efforts where needed to protect the towns and developments springing up across the westward expansion. As the years of fire suppression added up, so did unburned fuel in the forest, small diameter fire and disease susceptible timber began to crowd the forests of the west. Now catastrophic blazes consume this crowded tinder with so much intensity that they kill even the most fire resistant timber.

We work with landowners of all types but most of our clients are non-industrial timberland owners. There really is no such thing as the “typical” client, but one commonality that our clients have is the idea of combining conservation with the necessity of doing timber management. Whoever the client is, Wolfcamp Forestry is committed to a healthy, sustainable forest and is scalable enough to be able to handle the small jobs all the way up to multi-landowner multi-year projects.

All jobs start with an onsite evaluation and a conversation with the landowner on what their goals are for the project. Then the project is surveyed, permitted and roads are built as necessary.  Wolfcamp Forestry then uses mechanical logging machinery to harvest and bring the timber to market. We take pride in having the best, most conscientious operators around. If you don’t love the forest you don’t work for Wolfcamp Forestry.

Wolfcamp Forestry has clients with acreage ranging from 20 acres to as much as 3000 acres. There are projects that are not big enough for us to feasibly harvest by themselves but often times the solution is to collaborate with several of your adjoining landowners. This is also an attractive option for increasing the fire safety of an entire area and not just your property.

Yes. Because of our commitment to maximize utilization and constantly be more efficient  Wolfcamp Forestry can typically make more money for landowners and do a better job of achieving their goals than other harvesting contractors. Of course, timberland acreage is as varied and unique as the people who own it, so you will need a free onsite consult to come up with an estimate.

A healthy forest is a growing forest. As a young forest begins to grow all the trees are competing for two critical resources, water and sunlight. Over time, as the individual trees compete there are always the “top performers” that will grow faster than the rest of the timberstand — this in turn shades the neighboring trees and restricts their water and sunlight. The now stunted, unhealthy trees are the perfect host for disease and bugs to get a foothold in a timberstand. If the unhealthy trees are not thinned out, either by fire or harvesting, the infestations will get to the point where they will overcome even the healthiest trees. To keep trees growing they need to be periodically thinned. A growing forest is a healthy forest.

Wolfcamp Forestry, based in Republic, Washington, currently serves all of Ferry, Okanogan and parts of Stevens county. If you think Wolfcamp Forestry would be a good fit for you, and your project is big enough to travel for, we will certainly consider every landowner’s project.

Wolfcamp Forestry has three core values that we base all of our decisions from. Forests, community and energy. If a project is good for the forest, betters lives, and creates awareness for better forestry practices then we do it. If a landowner’s goals are out of alignment with these values we don’t do the project, plain and simple. The name “Wolfcamp” comes from a geographic location north of Republic, and it, along with this entire area, represents the hardworking people that make a living managing and caring for our forest.

If you have forested acres, chances are they would benefit from a management strategy of some kind. But management does not always mean harvesting. Your acreage may need to have some hand thinning done or some other means of fuels abatement. If you are unsure what your timbered land needs for management, feel free to contact us and we will come out and take a look.