Fayette County is northwest Alabama hill country. Loblolly plantations hold the ridges and uplands, with hardwood in the draws and creek bottoms.
Southeast Forestlands works only for the landowner. We do not buy timber and we are not paid by mills.
How the Country Lays Here
More than half the county is mapped on slopes that can reach 15 percent or steeper. One of the two most common upland soils is shallow over rock. Pine on that ground never grows like pine on the deeper soil beside it. The difference can show up inside one stand. We cruise it that way instead of averaging it. Averaging it is how an owner ends up disappointed at the landing.
Access and Weather
Rocky ridges hold up in wet weather. The bottoms along the Sipsey do not. Plan the job around that and you keep the crew working. Bottom hardwood is graded log by log, so it is cruised and reported on its own.
After the Harvest
Match the species to the slope. Flat ridge ground carries planted pine. The draws stay hardwood. Fixing up the skid trails is part of the job, not an extra. We put that in the contract and hold the crew to it.
Steep Ground and Skid Trails
Better than four acres in ten here reach slopes of 25 percent or more. That one number sets the logging cost on most tracts.
Steep, short slopes shed water fast. A trail cut straight down one turns into a ditch after two hard rains. Lay the trails across the grade and put water bars in as the job moves, not at the end.
Close to a third of the county also has rock or a firm layer within about three feet. A ripping or subsoiling plan will not reach past that layer, so check the depth before ordering it.
Nearby Counties
We also work with landowners in nearby counties, including Lamar (AL), Marion (AL), Walker (AL), Tuscaloosa (AL), and Pickens (AL).
General Guidance
How the work itself is done is explained once, site-wide, rather than repeated county by county:
- What a timber cruise measures
- How a sealed-bid timber sale works
- How we sell timber
- Wet-weather logging and BMPs
- Thinning decisions
- Regeneration and replanting
- All forestry services
Talk It Over First
Walk the place with a forester before deciding anything. Contact us to set up a visit.