Million Dollars Thrown Away Through Neglect of 270 Acres
A friend recently introduced me to a friend of his who owns a half section (320 acres) in Western Wisconsin.
Both of these fellows seemed proud of the fact that in the 55 years that he owned this property he had been preserving the forest, never cutting anything and certain that it must be worth a fortune by now.
Then I had do my job and burst their bubble, and pull out my handy spreadsheet.
Just like a rental home that is ignored for 50 years, not only will you lose out on periodic income from rent but the house will deteriorate over time.
An ignored forest will also deteriorate while it is being ignored and the periodic income that is generally gained through the thinnings that are required to maintain and improve the forest, can be significant as well.
Not only is his forest worth much less than it was years ago, but they also lost out on over $700,000 in periodic income from maintenance thinnings.
Of course our handy little spreadsheet does not show the other losses in interest and taxes, which will require this million dollar loss to multiply many times over.
Had this landowner consulted with a Forester toward the beginning of his venture, he would have been following a management plan.
This plan would have laid out a schedule and prescription that would have provided for periodic maintenance of the forest as well as periodic income from the forest.
While you are feeling sorry for our friend here, keep in mind that everyone of us is part owner in a large tract of land in our National Forests where they also employ a similar management style, mostly because they allow a bunch of uneducated pseudo environmentalists to push them around and hamper any efforts to care for the forest.
Picture credit
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/agree-terms.php?id=10015682 "Decreasing Diagram In 3d" by jscreationzs
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