The Crow Wing County Land Services Department sold nine timber tracts to be harvested by local loggers for $445,000 at the fall timber auction Sept. 29.
The appraised value of the timber tracts was $336,684 with an average sale price of 132 percent of the appraised value. Crow Wing County manages 105,000 acres of land of which 72,500 acres is productive forest land, according to Environmental Services Division Manager Chris Pence.
"Timber harvested in Crow Wing County is utilized in regional mills that produce various wood products such as paper, lumber, pallets and wood shims. In addition, woodchips from timber harvests are used for biomass fuel to produce energy," Pence said in a news release.
Revenues from the county's timber auction cover forest management and related land management costs. Surplus funds are provided to schools, cities and townships in the county to offset the local tax levy. Over the last five years, over $880,000 has been distributed to school districts, townships and cities.
County forestlands are also managed to strict environmental standards established by the
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Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council certification standards. Both require independent third-party auditing firms to evaluate the practices of an organization to certify their standards are being met.
The SFI's forest-certification standard is based on principles that promote sustainable forest
management, including measures to protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, and forests with exceptional conservation value.
FSC's standards ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally-responsible, socially-beneficial, and economically-viable way. For the last eight years, the county was able to ensure that the forestland is being sustainably managed for current and future generations.
