Selling Timber in Texas: Check the Forester, Paint the Line, Watch the Trucks

Most Texas timber grows in the Piney Woods of East Texas, and most of it is sold the same way timber is sold anywhere: somebody looks at it, somebody makes an offer, and if you're smart, more than one somebody makes an offer and it all goes in a written contract. How to sell timber on your land lays out that order.

Texas has fewer rules about timber sales than its neighbors. That cuts both ways. There's less paperwork, and there's less protection. Here's where a Texas landowner has to do the checking.

Anyone in Texas can call himself a forester

Some states license foresters. Texas doesn't. Texas A&M AgriLife's guide to selecting a consulting forester says it in one line: "Texas has no registration or licensing process for consulting foresters, anyone can claim to be a forester."

A good consultant is still worth having. The same guide says a consultant "may increase revenues returned to the forest landowner by as much as 25 percent." You just have to check them yourself:

• Ask about the degree. A forestry degree from an accredited school is the baseline. Texas A&M Forest Service keeps a professional vendors list that requires one.
• Ask about the Association of Consulting Foresters. AgriLife names it as a recognized professional organization.
• Get the fee in writing before any work starts. AgriLife's advice is to put the cost of the forester's services in the contract.
• Call two landowners they sold timber for.

AgriLife's advice on the rest is blunt: "Don't be afraid to ask pointed questions before entering into a contract." Do I need a forestry consultant covers what they do and how they're paid.

Call the Forest Service before you sell

Texas A&M Forest Service's own advice on selling and harvesting your timber starts with contacting your local Forest Service forester before you sell. They can tell you about cost-share and tax programs you may qualify for, and the local office can give you a sample logging contract.

They won't run your sale. That's what a consultant is for, or you, with the help of the guides on this site.

Paint your line purple

Most timber trespass starts at a boundary nobody marked. Texas A&M Forest Service forester Ryan Burns told KLTV in 2023 that one common story is a logger who claims he was cutting the neighbor's place and "accidentally stumbled on to your trees."

Texas gives you a cheap fix: purple paint. Under Penal Code section 30.05, purple marks on trees or posts count as a legal no-trespassing notice. To count, each mark has to be:

• a vertical line at least 8 inches long and 1 inch wide,
• with the bottom of the mark 3 to 5 feet off the ground,
• no more than 100 feet apart on forest land, and easy to see from anyone approaching.

Painting a line won't settle where the line actually is. If there's any doubt, get it surveyed first. How to find property lines before selling timber covers that.

Watch the trucks

Burns's other advice is simple: watch the job. Walk your property while the crew is working. Ask for a record of every load, and hold the contractor to the terms you signed.

On a pay-as-cut sale, every load that leaves your land should come back to you as a load ticket with a weight on it. Match the tickets to your payments as they come in, not at the end of the job. Timber load tickets: what left your land shows what to look for.

If timber was taken without your permission, write down everything you know right away (dates, the crew, the trucks, any contract), take photos, and call your local Texas A&M Forest Service office and the sheriff. Someone cut timber on my land without permission has the next steps.

Taxes: one state tax you don't owe, one you might

No state income tax. Texas doesn't tax personal income, so a timber sale carries no state income tax, as the Texas Tribune explains. Federal income tax still applies. Do I pay taxes on a timber sale explains how to keep that bill down.

Watch your property tax appraisal. A lot of Texas woodland is appraised for property tax on what it can grow, not what it would sell for, and that keeps the yearly bill low. The Texas Comptroller's page on agricultural and timber appraisal explains that if specially appraised land changes use, the owner can owe a rollback tax for each of the previous three years. Ask your county appraisal district before you decide what happens to the land after the trucks leave.

What Texas timber is selling for

Texas A&M Forest Service runs its own price survey, free to anyone, every two months. The May and June 2026 report put statewide average stumpage at:

• Pine sawtimber: $26.38 a ton
• Pine chip-n-saw: $13.62 a ton
• Pine pulpwood: $5.04 a ton
• Hardwood sawtimber: $38.45 a ton
• Hardwood pulpwood: $5.56 a ton

The report notes that pine sawtimber fell about 7 percent from the period before and about 14 percent from a year earlier. Northeast Texas ran a little ahead of Southeast Texas on pine.

That drop matters if you're deciding when to sell. A falling market isn't a reason to panic, and it isn't a reason to sell in a hurry either. When is the best time to sell timber walks through how to think about timing, and Texas timber prices has the full table.

Before you sign in Texas

• Check the forester yourself. No license stands behind the title.
• Call your Texas A&M Forest Service office for advice and a sample contract.
• Paint or survey your lines before the crew arrives.
• Get every load ticket, and walk the job.
• Ask the appraisal district before you change how the land is used.

Your next step this week: find the foresters and timber buyers who work your Texas county, and call two of them. Ask each one where your nearest mills are and how far your timber has to haul. Distance to the mill is one of the biggest things that moves your price.