Saw Logs and Veneer logs are two very different things. Up in my area if a logger identifies good veneer trees, the veneer buyer comes right to the site and makes an offer and usually stays around to see it cut. A veneer log needs to be straight with no defects at all. They then attach a metal tag to it and may even have it picked up by their designated trucking firm. We dont have any walnut to speak of but if its figured maple they pay big bucks for the right trees (thousands not hundreds). There is a veneer mill in Newport VT near the Canadian border. I used to drive I91 a lot and frequently saw loads of big straight hardwood logs heading north all with metal tags on them.
About 25 years ago there was a lot wood poaching going on in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Crown (government owned) lands due to a high unemployment rate and huge demand for figured wood, folks would head into the woods on ATVs with a broad ax slashing a big piece of bark off the trunk to see if there was figure, if it was they would go grab it some night and drive it over the Maine border to sell for cash. I knew some folks that were buying maple trees with figure to sell for music instruments, they didnt need a perfect log like the veneer buyer wanted but they still paid cash for good trees with the right grain pattern. If they could get one block to sell for a viola, that paid for the tree and then the rest was all profit. The music folks want to buy the wood green and want to season it themselves. They definitely dont want standard kiln dried.
The hassle is that veneer logs are pretty rare and they can be damaged by nature or poor logging. Most loggers and landowners don't manage for high quality trees and the result is they are selling hundred dollar sawlogs and pulpwood instead of several thousand dollar veneer logs. My local town had a large hardwood stand that had been left alone for 100 plus years possibly longer, it had ideal soils and sun exposure. It was managed as watershed protection area. In 1998 there was an ice storm and it wiped out all the crowns of the mature trees. The town hired a forester for a salvage cut and the revenue was far more than expected. Buyers reportedly were coming from all over as most of the trees were veneer grade and trees that size were quite rare in the region. There are still a few big trees that survived to give folks an idea of what had been but its going to be another 100 plus years to see if it regenerates into the same quality trees. Most folks have a 20 year window, while northern hardwoods are 100 years plus.
About 25 years ago there was a lot wood poaching going on in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Crown (government owned) lands due to a high unemployment rate and huge demand for figured wood, folks would head into the woods on ATVs with a broad ax slashing a big piece of bark off the trunk to see if there was figure, if it was they would go grab it some night and drive it over the Maine border to sell for cash. I knew some folks that were buying maple trees with figure to sell for music instruments, they didnt need a perfect log like the veneer buyer wanted but they still paid cash for good trees with the right grain pattern. If they could get one block to sell for a viola, that paid for the tree and then the rest was all profit. The music folks want to buy the wood green and want to season it themselves. They definitely dont want standard kiln dried.
The hassle is that veneer logs are pretty rare and they can be damaged by nature or poor logging. Most loggers and landowners don't manage for high quality trees and the result is they are selling hundred dollar sawlogs and pulpwood instead of several thousand dollar veneer logs. My local town had a large hardwood stand that had been left alone for 100 plus years possibly longer, it had ideal soils and sun exposure. It was managed as watershed protection area. In 1998 there was an ice storm and it wiped out all the crowns of the mature trees. The town hired a forester for a salvage cut and the revenue was far more than expected. Buyers reportedly were coming from all over as most of the trees were veneer grade and trees that size were quite rare in the region. There are still a few big trees that survived to give folks an idea of what had been but its going to be another 100 plus years to see if it regenerates into the same quality trees. Most folks have a 20 year window, while northern hardwoods are 100 years plus.
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This is like every craigslist add around here for free wood!
