Montana timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in Montana — 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 Montana — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for sawlogs, winning bids on state timber sales is $4.11–$49.59 per ton, reported by Montana DNRC timber sale bid results for FY2027 sales. 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 77 Montana 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 Montana 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 sawlogs, winning bids on state timber sales in Montana is $4.11–$49.59 per ton, reported by Montana DNRC timber sale bid results for FY2027 sales. 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.
Montana stumpage prices by species
Montana DNRC timber sale bid results, FY2027 sales
| Timber | per ton |
|---|---|
| Sawlogs, winning bids on state timber sales | $4.11–$49.59 |
| Sawlogs, appraised minimum bid | $4–$16.72 |
Source: Montana DNRC timber sale bid results, FY2027 sales. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in Montana?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $130 to $1,060 for pine and other softwood and $100 to $830 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 Montana?
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 Montana'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 Montana market
The gap between the appraised minimum and the winning bid on Montana state sales is often two or three times over. Competition is doing that, not the timber.
How much forest Montana has, and who owns it
Montana has 19.8 million acres of timberland — almost 90% of the state's unreserved forest land. Privately owned forest land totals 7 million acres, 27% of the state's forest.
The wood itself: Douglas-fir (7.5 million acres, most abundant by volume), lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
Montana is one of the only states where you can be required to post a bond before you cut — up to $6 per thousand board feet — to guarantee you clean up the logging slash afterwards.
Sources: fs.usda.gov · law.justia.com
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Montana?
Montana is a notification state, and stricter than most people expect. Before cutting any forest product on private forest land you must notify the state of the forest practice, and either get an exemption certificate or sign a fire hazard reduction agreement.
A bond of up to $6 per thousand board feet can be required on the slash agreement. The state responds within five working days and can request an on-site consultation, and separate streamside management rules govern work near water.
Source: mca.legmt.gov
Forest land classification: what Montana charges to hold woodland
Qualifying forest land is valued on its timber-growing productivity — net income per acre capitalized — instead of on market value.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 15 contiguous acres capable of producing at least 100 board feet per acre. 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: revenue.mt.gov
What the Montana DNRC, Service Forestry Program will do for you, free
A free local Service Forester will help you write a stewardship plan, identify cost-share grants, diagnose insects and disease, and give you a list of prospective timber buyers — though they generally limit their time to a few hours per ownership.
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: dnrc.mt.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.
Because Montana timber is sold by weight, the load tickets are your receipt. Every truck that leaves is weighed at the mill, and those tickets are what your payment is calculated from. Ask to receive copies as the job runs rather than a single figure at the end — a sale you cannot check is a sale you have to take 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 77 Montana 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.
77 Montana 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 Montana
What are timber prices in Montana right now?
Montana DNRC timber sale bid results reports sawlogs, winning bids on state timber sales at $4.11–$49.59 per ton for FY2027 sales. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in Montana 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 Montana?
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 Montana'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 Montana?
Montana is a notification state, and stricter than most people expect. Before cutting any forest product on private forest land you must notify the state of the forest practice, and either get an exemption certificate or sign a fire hazard reduction agreement. A bond of up to $6 per thousand board feet can be required on the slash agreement. The state responds within five working days and can request an on-site consultation, and separate streamside management rules govern work near water.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in Montana?
Montana runs Forest land classification. Qualifying forest land is valued on its timber-growing productivity — net income per acre capitalized — instead of on market value. It takes 15 contiguous acres capable of producing at least 100 board feet per acre.
Who can help me manage my timber in Montana for free?
The Montana DNRC, Service Forestry Program. A free local Service Forester will help you write a stewardship plan, identify cost-share grants, diagnose insects and disease, and give you a list of prospective timber buyers — though they generally limit their time to a few hours per ownership.
How do I get the best price for my timber in Montana?
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 77 Montana businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.