New York timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in New York — 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 New York — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for hard maple is $550–$900 per thousand board feet, reported by New York State DEC stumpage price report for Winter 2025. 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 296 New York 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 New York 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 hard maple in New York is $550–$900 per thousand board feet, reported by New York State DEC stumpage price report for Winter 2025. 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.
New York stumpage prices by species
New York State DEC stumpage price report, Winter 2025
| Timber | per thousand board feet |
|---|---|
| Red oak | $500–$728 |
| Black cherry | $350–$600 |
| Hard maple | $550–$900 |
| White pine | $75–$150 |
| Hemlock | $50–$99 |
| Black walnut | $1,000–$2,000 |
Source: New York State DEC stumpage price report, Winter 2025. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in New York?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $840 to $1,680 for pine and other softwood and $4,570 to $9,140 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 New York?
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 New York'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 New York market
New York's report mixes log rules between its regions — Delaware/Catskill is Scribner, Hudson/Mohawk is International 1/4".
How much forest New York has, and who owns it
New York has 15.7 million acres of timberland. Fourteen million acres — 74% of New York's forest land — is privately held.
The wood itself: Maple/beech/birch is the largest group at 55% of forest land; sugar maple, black cherry and red oak are the commercial hardwoods. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
The 480-a commitment is a rolling one — the ten-year obligation restarts following receipt of each annual exemption, so a landowner who takes the break every year is never less than ten years from being free of the commitment.
Sources: fs.usda.gov · dec.ny.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in New York?
No state permit is needed just to cut timber on your own land in New York. Permits only come into play for particular site conditions — stream crossings, wetlands, or very large clearcuts inside the Adirondack Park.
Towns are the real regulator here. Many New York towns have their own timber harvest ordinances, and the state tells landowners to check with the Town Clerk before harvesting.
Source: dec.ny.gov
480-a Forest Tax Law: what New York charges to hold woodland
Up to an 80% reduction in the assessed value of the enrolled forest acreage, in exchange for committing to follow a state-approved management plan.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 50 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: dec.ny.gov
Free help from New York's state forestry agency
The New York State DEC, Division of Lands and Forests. A free visit from a DEC forester for any private non-industrial forest landowner wanting introductory management and technical advice, plus a published list of Cooperating Foresters and cost-share grant programs.
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: dec.ny.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 296 New York 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.
296 New York 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 New York
What are timber prices in New York right now?
New York State DEC stumpage price report reports hard maple at $550–$900 per thousand board feet for Winter 2025. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in New York 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 New York?
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 New York'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 New York?
No state permit is needed just to cut timber on your own land in New York. Permits only come into play for particular site conditions — stream crossings, wetlands, or very large clearcuts inside the Adirondack Park. Towns are the real regulator here. Many New York towns have their own timber harvest ordinances, and the state tells landowners to check with the Town Clerk before harvesting.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in New York?
New York runs 480-a Forest Tax Law. Up to an 80% reduction in the assessed value of the enrolled forest acreage, in exchange for committing to follow a state-approved management plan. It takes 50 contiguous acres. A written forest management plan is required.
Who can help me manage my timber in New York for free?
The New York State DEC, Division of Lands and Forests. A free visit from a DEC forester for any private non-industrial forest landowner wanting introductory management and technical advice, plus a published list of Cooperating Foresters and cost-share grant programs.
How do I get the best price for my timber in New York?
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 296 New York businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.