Assessment of the Potential for Log Sort Yards to Facilitate Forest Health Restoration and Fuel Reduction Treatments

This paper presents preliminary results from an analysis of the potential for a log sort yard to increase the residual value (mill delivered price less handling, haul and harvesting costs) of forest health restoration treatments relative to a standard sort at landing in Ravalli County, Montana. We find that establishment of a log sort yard in Ravalli County could substantially increase the residual value of forest health restoration treatments improving potential financial returns to forest owners from treatments and expanding treatable acres that are profitable to treat. This result is robust against all model parameters except delivered log prices. A reduction in delivered log values by 30% is enough to make the present system of sorting logs into two piles at the landing more attractive than sorting at a sort yard.