An AFM Agreement for Forest Management Services Can Include Some or All of the Following Activities:

• Forest Inventory

• Property Mapping

• Harvest Scheduling

• Forest Management Plan

• Timber & Land Appraisals

• Timber Sales

• Reforestation

• Ecological Services

• GIS (Geographic Information System)

• Specialized Maps

Property Mapping - Based on the information collected from the property inventory, our mapping department can produce property maps that are used for several aspects of property ownership. These maps are computer generated (color or black and white), digitized and geo-referenced for use with Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. These maps integrate the field data collected on the ground with aerial photographs, satellite imagery, USGS topographic maps, survey maps and other additional sources of information regarding the property. Once collected and compiled, the data can be displayed in various “layers” depending on the combination of information required. These maps are easily updated or modified to reflect on-going management activities such as timber harvests, thinning activities, or wildlife habitat improvement. The timber inventory data can be “attached” to the various timber stands associated with the property for easy retrieval and display with evaluation management options.

Harvest Scheduling – Performed within the management parameters determined by AFM foresters and the owner’s objectives using commercially developed and customized software packages.

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Timber and Land Appraisals – Used to provide estimates of current and future market values of existing merchantable and premerchantable timber and timberland.

• Market Analysis and Stumpage Price Trends – AFM maintains records of local timber sales. These sale records reflect timber prices by species and product class. Various characteristics that also influence product prices are recorded. These include:

• Quality
• Total volume
• Volume per acre
• Volume per tree
• Logging conditions
• Accessibility

• This information allows us to monitor and track timber prices and to provide a general outlook for timber markets. We subscribe to Timber Mart South, as well at The Timber Sales Report, Inc., which supplements our data with more regional information. By maintaining this database, we also have the capability to determine the timber cost basis for a property acquired years ago.
   
• Merchantable Timber – The timber inventory of merchantable stands is designed to provide data, which can be used to determine both current market values and future market values of existing timber under various merchantability standards. The timber inventory process involves the collection of data to determine the volume, grade and quality of the various merchantable species found on a given property.
   
• Each inventory project has its on specific set of criteria that are collected by our foresters and forest technicians comprising the field team. The “project manager” meets with the field team on the site at the beginning of each project to review the project’s objective and design criteria. Typically, several sample plots are taken as a group to insure all members of the team approach the data collection process in a unified manner.
   
• By designing the data collection requirements specifically to meet each client’s criteria before the fieldwork begins, and reviewing the collection process in the field before we begin, we reduce the chance of collecting inconsistent data, incomplete data or incorrect data. As an additional control on our fieldwork. senior AFM foresters “check cruise” plots behind the field team to verify consistent data collection between team members.
   
• In a strategically significant sampling (timber cruise), the sample points are designed to include all timber types found on the property. Aerial photographs, topographic maps and existing property maps are used to determine the optimum spatial design for data collection. Statistical analysis of the property’s variability is used to determine the number of sample points required to meet the desired confidence level of the sampling. The required sample points are located on a grid pattern with the distance between points designed to obtain the required sampling intensity. Unbiased site index trees are measured at various intervals as determined by the project’s criteria. Normally the first dominant or co-dominant tree standing north and going in a clockwise direction is measured and recorded. Measurements will include the age and total height to the nearest foot.
   
• Premerchantable Stands – Premerchantable stands are also sampled in a similar manner as merchantable stands. The sampling is conducted on a grid pattern with sufficient spacing between lines and plots to record the desired number of samples for the estimated variability of the stands. As with merchantable timber sampling, the intensity is dependent on the client’s requirements and our recommendations. The data collected for this inventory includes:

• Origin of the stand (natural or planted)
• Stocking levels (trees/acre)
• Species composition
• Identity of competition

Typically the first dominant or co-dominant tree due north moving in a clockwise direction from plot center is measured for total height. If age is not provided, that tree is bored with an increment borer to determine its age. These measurements provide a site index specific to each stand. Site index information, along with the number of trees per acre and other information collected, is used to project future timber growth and yield from the premerchantable stands, which in turn, is used to project future cash flows.

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Timber Sales – Specifically planned to achieve the owner’s objectives and conducted to receive the highest possible price for the timber offered for sale. When conducting a timber sale, our primary goal is to receive the highest possible price for the timber offered for sale with the constraints associated with the sale. Protecting the integrity of the property and preserving its long-term management options are key factors when evaluating all timber sale options. All timber sales are implemented in accordance with the Timber Management Plan designed by AFM to meet the owner’s requirements.

• Best Management Practices – Sales are designed to protect water quality and site productivity by adhering to the Best Management Practices (BMPs) as outlined by each state’s department of forestry. BMPs are common-sense practices such as leaving buffers along creeks and streams (streamside management zones or SMZs), installing water bars to prevent erosion on logging roads and skid trails and controlling creek and stream crossings with logging equipment. These practices help preserve the soil and water quality of the property, meet state logging guidelines (where required) and have little, if any, negative effect on timber sale income.
   
• Timber Sale Areas – The timber sale areas are designed by marking property boundaries or cutting areas with paint or by using obvious natural boundaries such as premerchantable pines, roads, powerline rights-of-way, etc. All streamside management zones are excluded from timber sale areas by painting a boundary around them. In some instances, high-value sawtimber or veneer trees are selectively harvested from within the SMZ, but only to the extent that the integrity of the buffer can be maintained.
   
• Clearcuts – Clearcuts are often both the most efficient and profitable method of timber harvesting and the best method to insure good reforestation. When utilizing clearcuts, the sale area will be designated as described above. The clearcut areas are designed to fit topographic configurations and utilize natural boundaries where feasible and avoid strict geometric patterns. The timber sale area is inventoried using one of two methods (or possibly a combination of the two). The timber inventory sampling (cruising) is designed to provide a statistical significant sampling of +/- 10% at the 90% confidence level based on the sale acreage and uniformity. Small acreages or diverse stands may require 100% tree count of the timber sale area to obtain accurate timber volume and value information.
   
• Select-Cut Harvests and Thinnings – Select cuts or thinnings can be used for several harvesting operations. These include seed tree cuts, shelterwood cuts, crop-tree thinnings, pulpwood thinnings, residential development harvests, and wildlife habitat improvement. Partial harvests require some type of designation of either the trees to remove or the trees to leave. Painting the desired trees at chest-height and on the stump are typical methods of designating which trees stay or are harvested, as designated in the timber sale prospectus. The timber volume offered in the sale is determined by either a 100% tree count of the sale area or a cruise of the sale area after the trees are marked. Pine pulpwood thinnings involve the removal of every fifth row of planted trees, or harvesting parallel corridors spaced 50 to 60 feet apart, followed by selecting trees between the rows to remove. The selection process begins with the removal of damaged or diseased trees, and continues to those with poor form or understory trees unlikely to make sawtimber until the desired stocking of trees is reached. Pulpwood thinnings are designed to promote the development of the residual stand into chip-n-saw and sawtimber trees.
   
• Timber Sale Process – Typically, clearcut sales are sold on a lump-sum, sealed-bid basis. Select cuts and thinnings are sold on both sealed-bid and negotiated basis, and can be either lump-sum amounts or paid per unit harvested. Lump-sum sales include a 100% payment upon the signing of the Contract or Deed or a 95% “advance payment” at closing allowing the owner to retain an economic interest for tax considerations (section 631 US Tax Code). Per unit sales typically paid on a weekly basis, although it is typical to include an advanced deposit of 60% to 70% of the anticipated harvest income from which weekly stumpage is deducted. Once the advance payment is depleted, weekly stumpage checks are issued through the completion of the harvest. Once the sale areas have been designated and inventoried, a bid invitation is prepared. The bid invitation stipulates the conditions of the sale, provides volume and quality summaries and includes a timber sale map showing sale area and location. The bid invitation is distributed to all qualified buyers in the area. In some instances, sales with conditions that require special consideration may be negotiated directly with specific buyers with known ability to meet contract requirements and pay market prices. Once a successful buyer is determined, the conditions of sale as stipulated in the bid invitation are included in the Timber Sale Contract or Timber Deed. AFM foresters then supervise all logging activities and enforce the conditions of sales in the Deed or Contract.

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