Utah timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in Utah — 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 Utah — 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. 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 53 Utah 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 Utah 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 Utah is $4.11–$49.59 per ton, reported by Montana DNRC timber sale bid results for FY2027. 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. No agency publishes a Utah stumpage price. These are Montana's state timber sale results, the nearest published Rocky Mountain market.
Utah stumpage prices by species
Montana DNRC timber sale bid results, FY2027
| 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. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in Utah?
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 Utah?
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 Utah'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.
Is a timber sale realistic in Utah?
Utah has a real but small timber industry, and about 84% of the harvest comes off national forest land. A Utah landowner finds out what their timber is worth by getting competing bids, not by looking up a price.
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 Utah has, and who owns it
Utah has 18.1 million acres of forest land. About 2.9 million acres privately owned, across 14,194 nonindustrial owners.
The wood itself: Lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce and aspen. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
Utah's notification duty lands on the logger, not the landowner — the Act requires registration and 30-day notice from the operator and expressly exempts a landowner working their own land, so a Utah landowner hiring a crew should confirm the crew is registered before work starts.
Sources: apps.fs.usda.gov · le.utah.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Utah?
Utah is a notification state. Under the Forest Practices Act the operator must register with the state and file written notice of intent at least 30 days before starting. A landowner who does the cutting himself on his own land is exempt.
The Act does not apply to tracts of fewer than five contiguous acres, to non-commercial personal use by the owner, to Christmas tree farms, or to wildland-urban-interface fuel reduction.
Source: le.utah.gov
Farmland Assessment Act: what Utah charges to hold woodland
Land actively devoted to agricultural use is taxed on current use value rather than market value. Note that the statute's list of qualifying uses names trees and fruits without naming timber or forest products, so woodland eligibility is worth confirming with your county assessor.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 5 contiguous acres. 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: le.utah.gov
What the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands will do for you, free
Forest Stewardship Program assistance — a forester in your area can provide advice and guidance on managing forest land. The Division also administers Forest Practices Act operator registration.
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: ffsl.utah.gov
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.
Because Utah 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 53 Utah 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.
53 Utah 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 Utah
What are timber prices in Utah 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. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in Utah 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 Utah?
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 Utah's own published prices. It gives a range, never a single figure, because only a cruise settles what a stand is really worth.
Does Utah publish its own timber prices?
No agency publishes a Utah stumpage price. These are Montana's state timber sale results, the nearest published Rocky Mountain market.
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Utah?
Utah is a notification state. Under the Forest Practices Act the operator must register with the state and file written notice of intent at least 30 days before starting. A landowner who does the cutting himself on his own land is exempt. The Act does not apply to tracts of fewer than five contiguous acres, to non-commercial personal use by the owner, to Christmas tree farms, or to wildland-urban-interface fuel reduction.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in Utah?
Utah runs Farmland Assessment Act. Land actively devoted to agricultural use is taxed on current use value rather than market value. Note that the statute's list of qualifying uses names trees and fruits without naming timber or forest products, so woodland eligibility is worth confirming with your county assessor. It takes 5 contiguous acres.
Who can help me manage my timber in Utah for free?
The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands. Forest Stewardship Program assistance — a forester in your area can provide advice and guidance on managing forest land. The Division also administers Forest Practices Act operator registration.
How do I get the best price for my timber in Utah?
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 53 Utah businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.