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About Us

We're in this for you.

At American Forest Management, we’ve been helping landowners like you manage, sell, buy, improve, and enjoy millions of acres of land for over 50 years. We remain keenly focused on our vision of making ownership more rewarding by helping people explore the full potential of their land.

AFM is an employee owned and operated management consulting firm with 5.85 million acres of forest and agricultural land under management for various clients in the Southeast, Gulf Coast, Appalachian, Northeast, Pacific Northwest, Intermountain, and Lake States Regions of the United States and Central America. AFM works with a diverse client-base that includes Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs), public Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Non-Industrial Private Forest landowners (NIPFs), and Government Agencies.

To efficiently meet the needs of its clients, AFM is aligned as 10 Operating Regions. In addition to the Corporate Office located in Charlotte, North Carolina, AFM has 9 Regions in the United States and one in Central America. Throughout these Regions, there are 52 small regionally dispersed District Offices which operate locally to provide individualized services. Our large overall size allows us to coordinate teams of foresters and technical support specialists for large, complex jobs. Our District Office structure allows AFM to place foresters in distinct geographic regions that allow for localized expertise.

We are humbled by the over 1,200 clients who entrust us to be advisors and stewards of their land. Over 5.7 million acres of it, in fact. This is a great responsibility, and we take it personally, but never for granted.

Clients like these have made us the largest land consulting and real estate brokerage firm in the United States. With hundreds of employees in offices across U.S., we’re able to provide our landowners with individualized local services while leveraging the vast technical resources of our national company.

Currently, AFM employs or has exclusive contractor relationships with 325+ professionals in the field of natural resource management, conducting all facets of forestry and land management including timber sales and harvesting supervision, forest data and inventory management, resource planning and biometrics, valuation and acquisition services, internal and client accounting, real estate sales, environmental and farmland services, and SFI®/FSC® certification system management.

But don’t let our size scare you. We treat all landowners, large or small, with the same level of care and respect. Regardless of size, we’re fully invested in your land with you. In our way of thinking, we’re in this together.

Our History

How it all started

In 1966, Bartow S. Shaw, Jr. formed Bartow Shaw and Associates to provide consulting services for private forestland owners. Nearly 20 years later, Roy Belser and Frank McLeod III purchased stock, and Shaw, McLeod and Belser was born. Over the next 30 years the company expanded through both organic growth and acquisition of esteemed companies and consultants, including the Hurlbutt firm, Canal Forest Resources, Sustainable Forest Technologies (consulting arm of International Paper), and International Forestry Consultants. This dynamic growth brought us to become the strong company we are today--the company we’re proud to call American Forest Management.

We're Ready To Help.

Reach out anytime to talk to one of our experts that knows your area.