Assessment of Stumpage Payment Methods Used by State and County Timber Sale Programs in the United States

As a part of a timber sale, sellers generally specify when and how the buyer will pay for the timber. A mail questionnaire was used to evaluate how state agencies within the United States and county timber sale programs within the Lake States collect payment for stumpage sold through their timber sale programs. Of particular importance were the perceptions of timber sale program administrators about the advantages and disadvantages of the two most common stumpage payment methods: scale (also called pay-as-cut) and lump sum (also called sold-on-appraised-volume). Timber sale programs with relatively little timber sale activity have a tendency to use a single stumpage payment method, whereas programs with robust timber sale activity were more likely to use both methods. Program administrators perceive greater differences in the administrative and financial aspects of the two stumpage payment methods and few differences with respect to their ecological effects.