Maine timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in Maine — 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 Maine — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for red oak is $293 per thousand board feet, reported by Maine Forest Service for 2024. 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 235 Maine 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 Maine 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 red oak in Maine is $293 per thousand board feet, reported by Maine Forest Service for 2024. 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.
Maine stumpage prices by species
Maine Forest Service, 2024
| Timber | per thousand board feet |
|---|---|
| Red oak | $293 |
| Hard maple | $251 |
| White pine | $208 |
| Hemlock | $69 |
Source: Maine Forest Service, 2024. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in Maine?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $1,310 to $2,620 for pine and other softwood and $2,060 to $4,110 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 Maine?
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 Maine'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.
How much forest Maine has, and who owns it
Maine has roughly 16.8 million acres of timberland — 95% of the state's forest land. An estimated 89.1% privately owned.
The wood itself: Maple/beech/birch (41.3%), spruce/fir, aspen/birch, white and red pine. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
Maine's most common forest type is not the spruce-fir most people picture — it is maple, beech and birch at 41.3% of the state's forest land, which is why Maine's hardwood sawlog and firewood markets matter as much to many landowners as the pulp market does.
Source: fs.usda.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Maine?
A Maine landowner or their agent must file a Forest Operations Notification with the Maine Forest Service before timber harvesting begins, in nearly every case where the wood will go to a mill or be sold. It is valid for up to two years.
Exempt are personal-use cutting, pre-commercial work producing no products, and up to two acres in twelve months done by the landowner themselves — but even exempt cutting may still need a town or Land Use Planning Commission permit.
Source: maine.gov
Maine Tree Growth Tax Law: what Maine charges to hold woodland
Forestland managed for commercial forest products is taxed on its timber productivity instead of market value, provided a licensed Maine forester's management and harvest plan is kept current and recertified at least every ten years.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 10 forested 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: maine.gov
What the Maine Forest Service will do for you, free
A free District Forester visit — they come to the property, walk it with you for two hours or more depending on size, answer questions and suggest next steps based on what you value about the woodlot.
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: maine.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 235 Maine 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.
235 Maine 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 Maine
What are timber prices in Maine right now?
Maine Forest Service reports red oak at $293 per thousand board feet for 2024. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in Maine 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 Maine?
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 Maine'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 Maine?
A Maine landowner or their agent must file a Forest Operations Notification with the Maine Forest Service before timber harvesting begins, in nearly every case where the wood will go to a mill or be sold. It is valid for up to two years. Exempt are personal-use cutting, pre-commercial work producing no products, and up to two acres in twelve months done by the landowner themselves — but even exempt cutting may still need a town or Land Use Planning Commission permit.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in Maine?
Maine runs Maine Tree Growth Tax Law. Forestland managed for commercial forest products is taxed on its timber productivity instead of market value, provided a licensed Maine forester's management and harvest plan is kept current and recertified at least every ten years. It takes 10 forested acres. A written forest management plan is required.
Who can help me manage my timber in Maine for free?
The Maine Forest Service. A free District Forester visit — they come to the property, walk it with you for two hours or more depending on size, answer questions and suggest next steps based on what you value about the woodlot.
How do I get the best price for my timber in Maine?
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 235 Maine businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.