Stumpage

Stumpage refers to the value or price of standing timber, i.e., the right to harvest timber from a specific area. In forest land management, stumpage is used when landowners—private individuals, corporations, or governments—sell or lease harvest rights rather than selling the timber itself. The transaction typically occurs through competitive auctions, sealed bids, or negotiated contracts, and the buyer pays the stumpage to the landowner for the right to harvest over a defined time period.

Stumpage value is usually expressed as a price per unit of volume, such as dollars per thousand board feet or per cubic meter, and can also be specified as a fixed price for a tract. The actual harvest costs, processing, and transportation are borne by the purchaser and are separate from the stumpage payment. Factors that influence stumpage include timber species, tree size and age, timber quality, site productivity, accessibility, distance to mills, and current market demand and prices, as well as regulatory restrictions and reforestation obligations.

Stumpage often functions as public revenue when government-owned forests sell harvest rights to private operators. It is also a mechanism for managing timber supply, encouraging sustainable harvests, and aligning landowner rights with market conditions. Critiques focus on transparency, equity in bidding, and ecological impacts, while supporters emphasize that stumpage values reflect opportunity costs and the value of standing timber before harvest.