Washington timber prices
What your standing timber is worth in Washington — 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 Washington — what a landowner is paid for timber standing on the stump, before it is cut. The most recent published figure for western red cedar is $1,036–$1,051 per thousand board feet, reported by Washington Department of Revenue stumpage value tables for January–June 2026. 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 271 Washington 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 Washington 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 western red cedar in Washington is $1,036–$1,051 per thousand board feet, reported by Washington Department of Revenue stumpage value tables for January–June 2026. 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.
Washington stumpage prices by species
Washington Department of Revenue stumpage value tables, January–June 2026
| Timber | per thousand board feet |
|---|---|
| Douglas-fir | $273–$635 |
| Western hemlock | $180–$352 |
| Western red cedar | $1,036–$1,051 |
| Ponderosa pine | $133–$147 |
Source: Washington Department of Revenue stumpage value tables, January–June 2026. These are stumpage prices — what a landowner is paid for standing timber.
What is an acre of timber worth in Washington?
At these prices, one mature, normally stocked acre of mostly large trees, sold in one harvest, works out to roughly $7,380 to $14,290 for pine and other softwood. 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 Washington?
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 Washington'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 Washington market
Washington requires a Forest Practices Application to DNR before harvest, with about a 30-day review. State law largely preempts county rules, so the county is not the place to start.
How much forest Washington has, and who owns it
Washington has about 22 million acres of forestland. Private ownership is 42% of forested acres; 6.1 million acres nonindustrial private across 51,006 owners.
The wood itself: Douglas-fir, western hemlock, ponderosa pine, with western redcedar, true firs and larch also major. Species is one of the three things that decide what your acre is worth, and it is the one you cannot change.
Even cutting for your own use can require a state permit in Washington — the threshold is 5,000 board feet, about a truck load of logs, above which a personal-use harvest needs a Forest Practices Application just like a commercial sale.
Sources: dnr.wa.gov · dnr.wa.gov
Do I need a permit to cut timber in Washington?
Washington is not like the southern states on this. You must file a Forest Practices Application or Notification with the Department of Natural Resources before you can legally harvest timber, even on your own land, and DNR generally has about thirty days to review it. Mandatory stream-buffer and reforestation rules apply. Local governments generally cannot add rules on top of this.
The state has 30 calendar days to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove most applications, with longer review for multi-year and long-term applications. Road building, culvert work and chemical application also require one.
Source: dnr.wa.gov
Property tax on Washington timberland
Land devoted primarily to growing and harvesting timber is valued on current use rather than highest and best use, cutting the assessed value and the tax.
Two things to check before you apply: it takes 5 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: dor.wa.gov
Free help from Washington's state forestry agency
The Washington DNR, Service Forestry Program and Small Forest Landowner Office. Forest stewardship and management planning, advice and recommendations at no cost to landowners, and service foresters will connect you with state forest pathologists, entomologists and forest health specialists.
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: dnr.wa.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 271 Washington 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.
271 Washington 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 Washington
What are timber prices in Washington right now?
Washington Department of Revenue stumpage value tables reports western red cedar at $1,036–$1,051 per thousand board feet for January–June 2026. That is a stumpage price — what the landowner receives for standing timber. Prices for the other products in Washington 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 Washington?
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 Washington'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 Washington?
Washington is a permit state. A Forest Practices Application must be filed whenever timber is harvested commercially, or whenever more than 5,000 board feet is cut for personal use. The state has 30 calendar days to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove most applications, with longer review for multi-year and long-term applications. Road building, culvert work and chemical application also require one.
Is there a property tax break for timberland in Washington?
Washington runs Designated Forest Land, or Timber Land under the Open Space Taxation Act. Land devoted primarily to growing and harvesting timber is valued on current use rather than highest and best use, cutting the assessed value and the tax. It takes 5 acres. A written forest management plan is required.
Who can help me manage my timber in Washington for free?
The Washington DNR, Service Forestry Program and Small Forest Landowner Office. Forest stewardship and management planning, advice and recommendations at no cost to landowners, and service foresters will connect you with state forest pathologists, entomologists and forest health specialists.
How do I get the best price for my timber in Washington?
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 271 Washington businesses, free and complete, and has not vetted or endorsed any of them.