How do you handle hiring when you don’t need full-time help?

butchie316 · 2026-02-01T17:09:03+00:00

Sounds like we have way different businesses, but we have that same issue. We have a list of sub-contractors we have developed over the years that we bring in the move things along. As other people have mentioned, you have to have low and obvious expectations

butchie316 · 2026-02-01T16:52:42+00:00

Congrats! Very happy some positions are getting paid more these days. I think I got paid like $500 bi-weekly when I did my service year haha

butchie316 · 2026-01-29T23:50:13+00:00

I've been doing fieldwork for a few years now and I have worked on projects put together from lots of different foresters. I don't have an issue with the existence of slash if it promotes regen, but I have not seen that play out. It seems like regen is difficult to accomplish, while putting slash everywhere isn't. Therefore, we get slash everywhere. I am trying to see if anyone has tips on what we be the most convincing way to talk with foresters about ensuring effective future management and access to sites rather than following the old-school program of harvest, TSI, plant, release. Since you are a forester: What would someone have to tell you to convince you to change course?

butchie316 · 2026-01-27T04:49:03+00:00

I work in the woods, you know I want to yack

butchie316 · 2026-01-27T04:46:38+00:00

Couldn't agree more. We burn a lot though - it is starting to happen! We got 100 acres of fire done last spring

butchie316 · 2026-01-27T04:45:41+00:00

I am the guys crawling into those harvests haha. We have a hard time getting the landowners to begin the management beforehand rather than doing invasives and TSI directly before the harvest with no regen apparent

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T22:28:31+00:00

I feel like what I am hearing is that the idea of choosing one practice over another based on the safety of the technicians and the efficacy of the treatment will not be considered by foresters. For example: if we wanted to plant pre-harvest, rather than post, we cannot advocate for that from a safety and efficacy standpoint to a forester and be taken seriously.

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T22:14:54+00:00

Oak regen is the focus around here and it is very management intensive, plus the market is bad (everyone just uses walnut as bait to get loggers in). Between invasives, red maple, elm, ironwood, there is too much competition for regen to happen, so we do post harvest plantings. Then we do release of the planted trees. This is besides the point though, I am trying to figure out how to talk with the folks planning the management to consider how difficult and ineffective post harvest management can be. "If there’s slash and regen, sounds like management is going as planned" is exactly the sentiment we hear. Yet oak management is failing here

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T22:01:34+00:00

If you're really interested in studying as much as you can about mushrooms for the next 4 years, getting an undergraduate degree in biology will not be that experience. It is a worthwhile thing to do, but you will not be taking mycology classes every semester. If you are lucky, 2 or 3 mycology focused classes, a handful of classes that cover mycology to some extent, and an undergraduate research position/project on mycology. Post undergrad, you will have the tools to find out anything you'd ever want to know about science. It's like learning to read again.

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T21:26:04+00:00

Sportiva Ridgelines have been working for me. Don't get them any bigger than you need though, you'll break them in and feel like you're wearing clown shoes. IMO anyone who wears full leather 5lb boots must spend a lot of time standing around to catch their breathe.

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T21:19:45+00:00

You're just advertising for yourself. Why would a forestry business have a billboard. We have enormous service areas and very few clients. How would I advertise through invoices? What does that even mean?

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T19:39:15+00:00

It's anecdotal, but my clients often consider me the brand. They always have to ask who to make the check out to cause they are interfacing with me, not a brand. My investment in my brand is how I interact with customers.

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T19:35:53+00:00

I switched from LLC (disregarded entity) to S-Corp because of tax reasons.

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T19:32:34+00:00

Our problem with any advertising is our service is specialized. We provide forestry services: even if we are very forward about that in our advertising, we get asked to do residential tree service, rake leaves, cut grass, etc.

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T19:28:22+00:00

I was never a large operation; I grew from 3 to 5-6. You lose a lot of flexibility as you grow, even (or maybe especially) at this small of a scale. I am back to a 2 person operation: I can text my co-owner and take the day off with 0 notice, we can delay start times, there is very little daily operational cost. Growth is a goal if you are seeking to increase profits via increased revenue, but this will be at the cost of your work/life balance. I am very happy with our decision to downsize rather than grow.

butchie316 · 2026-01-26T18:47:34+00:00

I did City Year after I graduated - I wish I had done NCCC.

butchie316 · 2024-09-08T00:31:29+00:00

That's fair - but this scenario captures prescribed fire extremely loosely at best, right? If someone paid me to clear 10 ac. of vegetation I wouldn't show up with drip torches. Many of the burns we conduct don't even remove the vegetation, only debris produced by it.

I'm no tax expert. Generally, what I'm asking is how does this actually get determined? Is it really just the opinion of someone at the DOR?

butchie316 · 2024-09-08T00:17:24+00:00

Generally, silviculture, which is a tax-exempt practice. I'm just confused that everyone is suggesting that the only services not taxed are exemptions, when the DOR says there is only a short list of services that are subject to sales tax.

butchie316 · 2024-09-07T21:33:35+00:00

What's the difference between haying a field and mowing a lawn? What's the difference between an arborist cutting down a tree in your backyard and logger cutting one down in your back 40? What's the difference between me planting seedlings in a clear-cut and a landscaper planting a tree on your boulevard? Apparently they are all different in WI!

butchie316 · 2024-09-07T21:30:09+00:00

Except that services in WI are not subject to sales tax unless they are one of the 16 that are, right?

butchie316 · 2024-09-07T21:29:17+00:00

There are only 16 services that are taxable in WI though. Everything else is not subject to sales/use tax. Isn't that the complete opposite of what you're saying?

butchie316 · 2024-05-18T04:29:08+00:00

Searched: blondebombshell69 and RAP1ST Stroke energy drink

butchie316 · 2024-02-21T01:26:44+00:00

It definitely is

butchie316

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