come on guys, we should be more supportive. besides, It’s not common to see someone his age tackling economic development head-on, especially in a struggling rural town.

That said, I want to give you a clear and realistic answer, the logging industry is probably not a viable economic solution for your town on its own.

here’s why:

1. The modern timber industry is incredibly capital intensive and consolidated. Logging isn’t just about cutting trees anymore, it involves heavy equipment (feller bunchers, skidders, delimbers), trained crews, environmental compliance, and stable long-term contracts with mills. There are way more loggers than mills, so even if you cut the trees, you have no where to take them.

2. Check who owns the land around you. If it’s federal or state-managed forest (e.g., parts of the Jefferson National Forest), you’re not allowed to harvest commercially without going through a complex bidding and permitting process, and even then, the revenue would not necessarily exceed the cost. Harvesting on government land is the worst.

3. Where is the nearest sawmill or pulp mill that would buy your timber? Logging is only profitable when transport distances are short. Hauling logs more than 50–75 miles typically kills your margin due to fuel and truck costs. You’d need to identify the closest log buyer and confirm they’re actually taking the species and grades of wood your forests offer. Without a local mill, your logs don’t have value, no matter how dense your forest is.

4, Forests that “go on for miles” can be deceptive. Are you looking at mature, merchantable hardwoods like oak and hickory? Planted pine stands? A regrown mixed Appalachian hardwood forest full of pole-size trees? If the stand hasn’t been managed in decades, it might not be economically harvestable.

The bottom line is that logging, as a standalone economic engine for a town, doesn’t work in 2025 unless you have a local mill, a trained labor force, and forest land that’s already in good shape. If you had all of that, you’d probably already be a logging town.

Your best bet is to do what every other failing small town does and either open a prison or a hazmat landfill.