North Dakota timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in North Dakota — 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 North Dakota — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for sawtimber, all species is $141 per thousand board feet, reported by Minnesota DNR Public Agencies Stumpage Price Review for 2021. 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 58 North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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 sawtimber, all species in North Dakota is $141 per thousand board feet, reported by Minnesota DNR Public Agencies Stumpage Price Review for 2021. 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.
One thing to know before you read the table. North Dakota has about 815,000 forest acres and no price report at all. These are Minnesota's auction prices for the same aspen, oak and birch — treat them as an upper bound, because North Dakota has far fewer mills bidding.
North Dakota stumpage prices by species
Minnesota DNR Public Agencies Stumpage Price Review, 2021
| Timber | per thousand board feet |
|---|---|
| Sawtimber, all species | $141 |
| Oak sawtimber | $109 |
| Timber | per cord |
|---|---|
| Aspen | $30.73 |
| Oak | $27.88 |
| Birch | $12.57 |
| Maple | $12.12 |
Source: Minnesota DNR Public Agencies Stumpage Price Review, 2021. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in North Dakota?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $1,060 to $2,130 for pine and other softwood and $1,060 to $2,130 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 North Dakota?
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 North Dakota'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 North Dakota timber is measured
North Dakota uses more than one unit, which trips people up. Sawtimber is priced by the thousand board feet, written MBF, and other products are priced by the cord. Never compare a figure in one unit against a figure in another — they are not the same measurement of wood.
Is a timber sale realistic in North Dakota?
North Dakota's mills are mostly small and part-time, so finding a buyer matters more here than the price does.
None of that means your trees are worthless. It means the sale is found rather than looked up — you want somebody who already works your area and knows where the wood goes. Tell us about your tract and we will go looking, and we track where the requests come from so we know which state to build out next.
How much forest North Dakota has, and who owns it
North Dakota has about 815,000 acres — 1.8% of the state's land area. Family and individual owners hold 58% of the state's forest.
The wood itself: Elm/ash/cottonwood is the most abundant type, then aspen/birch, bur oak and green ash; ponderosa pine in the southwest. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
North Dakota replaces property tax on enrolled forest land with a flat 50-cents-an-acre stewardship tax, locked in by a five-year contract that runs with the land — so it binds a buyer, not just the person who signed it.
Sources: stateforesters.org · ndlegis.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in North Dakota?
No state harvest permit or notification requirement for private land was identified in North Dakota law or state forestry material.
Land enrolled in the state's Forest Stewardship tax classification is under a five-year contract that runs with the land, so a harvest there is governed by that contract rather than by a permit.
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 North Dakota Forest Service settles it before you cut.
Source: ndlegis.gov
Forest Stewardship Tax: what North Dakota charges to hold woodland
Qualifying forest land is taken off normal property valuation and taxed at a flat fifty cents per acre.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 10 acres of natural forest cover, or 5 acres of planted cover at least 60 feet wide, 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: ndlegis.gov
What the North Dakota Forest Service will do for you, free
A free on-site visit through the Forest Stewardship Program, providing technical assistance and help building a long-term management plan. The agency also runs a state nursery for conservation seedlings.
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: ndsu.edu
Getting the best price for your timber
In a market this thin the first job is not squeezing the price, it is finding somebody who will come and cut at all. Haul distance decides most of it: wood that has to travel a long way to a mill loses its value on the truck, so an operator already working near you is worth more than a better price quoted from three counties over.
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 58 North Dakota 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.
58 North Dakota 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 North Dakota
What are timber prices in North Dakota right now?
Minnesota DNR Public Agencies Stumpage Price Review reports sawtimber, all species at $141 per thousand board feet for 2021. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in North Dakota 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 North Dakota?
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 North Dakota's own published prices. It gives a range, never a single figure, because only a cruise settles what a stand is really worth.
Does North Dakota publish its own timber prices?
North Dakota has about 815,000 forest acres and no price report at all. These are Minnesota's auction prices for the same aspen, oak and birch — treat them as an upper bound, because North Dakota has far fewer mills bidding.
Do I need a permit to cut timber in North Dakota?
No state harvest permit or notification requirement for private land was identified in North Dakota law or state forestry material. Land enrolled in the state's Forest Stewardship tax classification is under a five-year contract that runs with the land, so a harvest there is governed by that contract rather than by a permit. 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 North Dakota?
North Dakota runs Forest Stewardship Tax. Qualifying forest land is taken off normal property valuation and taxed at a flat fifty cents per acre. It takes 10 acres of natural forest cover, or 5 acres of planted cover at least 60 feet wide. A written forest management plan is required.
Who can help me manage my timber in North Dakota for free?
The North Dakota Forest Service. A free on-site visit through the Forest Stewardship Program, providing technical assistance and help building a long-term management plan. The agency also runs a state nursery for conservation seedlings.
How do I get the best price for my timber in North Dakota?
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 58 North Dakota businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.