Illinois timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in Illinois — published stumpage values by species, and a free calculator that turns them into a figure for your own land.
Quick answer
These are stumpage prices for Illinois — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for white oak sawlogs is $590 per thousand board feet, reported by Illinois Department of Natural Resources for Winter 2018/19. Delivered or mill log prices are a different and much higher number, because they include the cost of cutting and hauling the wood. TimberClear lists 231 Illinois foresters, buyers, loggers and mills who work this timber. What a particular stand brings is settled by a timber cruise, not by a price list.
If you own woodland in Illinois and you are wondering what it is worth, the number you want is the stumpage price — what a buyer pays you for timber while it is still standing. The most recent published figure for white oak sawlogs in Illinois is $590 per thousand board feet, reported by Illinois Department of Natural Resources for Winter 2018/19. The full table is below.
Two prices get quoted in this business and they are not the same. Stumpage is what reaches you. Delivered, sometimes called the mill or log price, is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard — and the difference between them is the cost of doing all that work. Delivered prices are easier to find online, they are a good deal higher, and a landowner who mistakes one for the other walks into a sale expecting money that was never on the table. Everything on this page is stumpage.
Illinois stumpage prices by species
Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Winter 2018/19
| Timber | per thousand board feet |
|---|---|
| Black walnut sawlogs | $1,300 |
| White oak sawlogs | $590 |
| Red oak sawlogs | $230 |
| Hard maple | $270 |
| Ash | $210 |
| Mixed hardwood, woods-run upland | $370 |
Source: Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Winter 2018/19. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in Illinois?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $2,450 to $4,900 for hardwood. Smaller trees, a thinner stand or a partial cut bring less. It's a ballpark, not an appraisal.
What is your timber worth?
The table above is the price. The calculator turns it into a figure for your land — it asks your acreage, your species, how big the trees are and how thick they stand, then works the estimate from the prices above. About a minute, and no email needed to see it.
What are my trees worth in Illinois?
A price list cannot answer that on its own, and any site that tells you otherwise is guessing. Three things decide what an acre brings, and only you can see them: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and what species they are.
Our free timber value calculator asks those three questions and works an estimate from Illinois's own published prices, the ones in the table on this page. It gives you a range rather than a single figure, because a range is the honest shape of the answer. It takes about a minute and it does not ask for your email to show you the number.
Worth knowing about the Illinois market
Illinois still runs this survey inside its Wooden Dollars Quarterly, but the recent tables are published as images. These are the most recent figures that can be read and cited.
How much forest Illinois has, and who owns it
Illinois has 4.7 million acres of timberland. 83% privately owned, across 81,946 nonindustrial owners.
The wood itself: Oak/hickory (over two-thirds of forest land), elm/ash/cottonwood. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
Illinois takes a 4% cut of every timber sale — the licensed buyer is required by law to deduct 4% of the purchase price from the landowner's cheque and remit it to the state, so an Illinois landowner nets 96% of the agreed price.
Sources: fs.usda.gov · law.justia.com
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Illinois?
Illinois does not require a landowner to get a permit or notify the state before harvesting timber on their own land. But the buyer must hold an Illinois timber buyer licence, and 4% of the sale price is deducted from the landowner's payment as a state timber harvest fee.
To be straight with you about how we know that: we looked and found no statewide requirement, which is not quite the same as confirming there is none. County ordinances and local road rules exist that no search of state law turns up. One call to the Illinois DNR, Division of Forest Resources settles it before you cut.
Source: law.justia.com
Forestry Development Act program: what Illinois charges to hold woodland
Enrolled woodland is assessed at one-sixth of the equalized assessed value of cropland — the lowest assessment available in Illinois — in return for a 10-year management plan signed off by the district forester.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 10 contiguous acres, and a written forest management plan is required. Programmes like this usually carry a claw-back — take the land out of forest use early and the state wants the deferred tax back — so read the terms before you sign rather than after you have cut.
Source: dnr.illinois.gov
What the Illinois DNR, Division of Forest Resources will do for you, free
Free technical assistance from state and partner district foresters to plan and manage a woodland, plus access to cost-share and a published list of consulting foresters.
Worth taking. A state service forester does not bid on your timber and does not take a commission, so the advice comes without a stake in the outcome. They will not run your sale for you — that is a consulting forester's job — but they will tell you what you have before anybody makes you an offer.
Source: dnr.illinois.gov
Getting the best price for your timber
The single biggest lever is competition. One buyer who turns up and makes an offer has no reason to bid against himself. A sealed-bid sale, run by a consulting forester who invites several buyers to price the same marked timber, routinely moves the final number by a wide margin — and it costs you a share of the sale rather than money up front.
Before any of that, have the timber cruised. A cruise is a forester walking your land and measuring what is actually standing, so you are selling a known quantity instead of taking somebody's word for it.
Ask how the wood will be measured and how you will be able to check it. Whatever the unit, a sale you cannot verify afterwards is a sale you are taking on trust.
And put the terms in writing before anybody starts: what gets cut, what stays, what the land looks like when they leave, and when you get paid.
TimberClear lists 231 Illinois foresters, buyers, loggers and mills. Every listing is free and complete, including the phone number the business already publishes. We have not vetted, verified or endorsed any of them — the listing tells you who they are and what counties they cover, and the choosing is yours.
231 Illinois timber businesses
Foresters, buyers, loggers and mills, with the counties each one covers. Free and complete.
Compare states side by side
Pick any states and see their prices next to each other.
Timber price questions in Illinois
What are timber prices in Illinois right now?
Illinois Department of Natural Resources reports white oak sawlogs at $590 per thousand board feet for Winter 2018/19. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in Illinois are listed on this page, and they move every quarter.
What is stumpage value?
Stumpage is the price paid for timber while it is still standing — the money that reaches the landowner. It is not the same as a delivered or mill log price, which is what a mill pays once the wood has been cut, limbed and hauled to the yard. The gap between the two is the cost of doing that work, and it is large. A delivered price quoted as though it were stumpage will make timber look worth far more than it is.
How much is an acre of timber worth in Illinois?
It depends on three things the price list cannot tell you: how big the trees are, how thickly they are growing, and whether they are sawtimber or pulpwood size. Sawtimber is worth several times what pulpwood is worth per ton. TimberClear's free timber value calculator asks those questions and works the estimate from Illinois's own published prices. It gives a range, never a single figure, because only a cruise settles what a stand is really worth.
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Illinois?
Illinois does not require a landowner to get a permit or notify the state before harvesting timber on their own land. But the buyer must hold an Illinois timber buyer licence, and 4% of the sale price is deducted from the landowner's payment as a state timber harvest fee. We found no statewide requirement, which is not the same as confirming there is none — county ordinances exist that a search of state law does not turn up, so check locally before you cut.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in Illinois?
Illinois runs Forestry Development Act program. Enrolled woodland is assessed at one-sixth of the equalized assessed value of cropland — the lowest assessment available in Illinois — in return for a 10-year management plan signed off by the district forester. It takes 10 contiguous acres. A written forest management plan is required.
Who can help me manage my timber in Illinois for free?
The Illinois DNR, Division of Forest Resources. Free technical assistance from state and partner district foresters to plan and manage a woodland, plus access to cost-share and a published list of consulting foresters.
How do I get the best price for my timber in Illinois?
Get more than one offer. A sealed-bid sale run by a consulting forester puts buyers in competition with each other, and that is the single biggest lever a landowner has. Have the timber cruised first so you know what you are selling, and put the terms in writing before anybody starts cutting. TimberClear lists 231 Illinois businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.