About Us
Experience
My career as a forester started in 1989 in eastern NC where I worked as a procurement forester for a wood dealership and saw mill. After buying timber and managing loggers for ten years I moved back home to Wilkes County, NC and in 2000 opened Evergreen Forest Management. Since then I have served clients in Northwestern NC and Southwestern VA. The majority of my service has been conducting timber sales and appraisals intermixed with stewardship and management plans. I have also assisted many clients with implementing forest management plans by providing wildlife management services such as timber thinning, food plots, and hunting lease management. I also have reforested hundreds of acres for clients and performed several prescribed burns. I am licensed and insured to do controlled burns and a NC licensed Forest Pesticide and Herbicide Applicator. ~Daron Brown, R.F.
Ethics
With the threat of development and urban sprawl, it is more important today than ever that private landowners be skillful forest managers. To produce more resources from a smaller land base requires the skill and experience of a professional forest manager. Timber is a renewable, monetary resource to every landowner. Most landowners only sell timber once in a lifetime. With a resource so valuable a proper marketing strategy is essential. On more than one occasion I have obtained over double previous offers on timber for my clients.
In the spring of 2011 a client was ready to sell his timber for $28,000. He felt it was a good price and called me just to make sure. I conducted an appraisal and sold the timber for $102,000.
I have heard numerous horror stories of land owners who were taken advantage of by selling their timber for pennies on the dollar.
The rewards of a healthy, well managed forest are limitless. Financial security, abundant wildlife, clean water and air, property tax incentives, and breath taking aesthetics, to only name a few. I have reduced some clients property taxes by as much as 90%. Their response, “I wish I had done this years ago.”
As a member of the Society of American Foresters and a North Carolina Registered Forester, Evergreen Forest Management is governed by and held accountable to the Society of American Foresters Code of Ethics. All business practices of Evergreen Forest Management will be conducted in a manner consistent with the Society of American Foresters strict code of ethics. The pledge to all our clients is to serve in a manner that adheres to the following ethic code.
Society of American Foresters Principles and Pledges
- Foresters have a responsibility to manage land for both current and future generations. We pledge to practice and advocate management that will maintain the long-term capacity of the land to provide the variety of materials, uses, and values desired by landowners and society.
- Society must respect forest landowners’ rights and correspondingly, landowners have a land stewardship responsibility to society. We pledge to practice and advocate forest management in accordance with landowner objectives and professional standards, and to advise landowners of the consequences of deviating from such standards.
- Sound science is the foundation of the forestry profession. We pledge to strive for continuous improvement of our methods and our personal knowledge and skills; to perform only those services for which we are qualified; and in the biological, physical, and social sciences to use the most appropriate data, methods, and technology.
- Public policy related to forests must be based on both scientific principles and societal values. We pledge to use our knowledge and skills to help formulate sound forest policies and laws; to challenge and correct untrue statements about forestry; and to foster dialogue among foresters, other professionals, landowners, and the public regarding forest policies.
- Honest and open communication, coupled with respect for information given in confidence, is essential to good service. We pledge to always present, to the best of our ability, accurate and complete information; to indicate on whose behalf any public statements are made; to fully disclose and resolve any existing or potential conflicts of interest; and to keep proprietary information confidential unless the appropriate person authorizes its disclosure.
- Professional and civic behavior must be based on honesty, fairness, good will, and respect for the law. We pledge to conduct ourselves in a civil and dignified manner; to respect the needs, contributions, and viewpoints of others; and to give due credit to others for their methods, ideas, or assistance.
Results
It is always a pleasure to see people’s eyes light up when I inform them what their timber is really worth. I recall one lady’s response after a successful timber sale,
“I am truly amazed. I can’t believe that my timber is actually worth this much. That’s more than double than I was about to sell for!”
Before the sale, she had received several offers from local timber buyers, with the highest being about half of the actual sale amount I was able to secure for her. The stories like this go on and on. It’s not uncommon at all to obtain double the previous offered amount for clients I represent.
A recent study by Dr. Fred Cubbage of the University of Georgia indicates that professional help can be valuable. Landowners who received professional forestry assistance before harvesting timber averaged 23% more income per acre, received a 64% higher price per board foot, and had a projected income stream from future sales 120% higher as a result of improved regeneration and stocking.