Title: Calculate the volume board feet (VBF) and value of sawtimber/saw logs in standing trees.
Course: Forestry Management, Advanced (18502-II) > Section: Measuring and Marketing Forest Products

Calculation should include determining VBF of lumber

- measuring the DBH of a tree using a Biltmore stick (DBH is defined as the diameter of the tree taken 4.5 feet up the trunk on the uphill side)
- estimating the number of 16-foot logs in a tree using a Biltmore stick (Estimate tree height at the point where the trunk narrows to eight inches or where the tree contains too many defects—large limbs, knots, hollow spots, etc.—to be commercially valuable from 66 feet away. Tree lengths are reported in 16-foot lengths, so a tree that is 32 feet tall would have two 16-foot sections or logs.)
- estimating the board feet in a tree using an International, Doyle, or Scribner log rule to calculate the board footage contained in the standing timber (DBH numbers run down the left column while the number of 16-foot logs runs across the top)
- investigating market price for the tree species.

Teacher Resource: Forestry Career Development Events, FFA

Process/Skill Questions:

- Why is a knowledge of tree identification important to determining the value of standing timber?
- What is the acreage of a rectangular tract of land 900 yards in width and 8,000 feet in length?
- Why is it sometimes advantageous not to harvest?
- What is the VBF of lumber in a tree with a 16-inch DBH and 3.5 16-foot logs? What is the value of the tree if the market value for standing red oak is $850 dollars per thousand board feet?