Mention the words “timber” and “timber sales” here in the Pacific Northwest and most people immediately think of the professional Goliaths, names like Weyerhaeuser, Boise Cascade and Plum Creek.

But a surprising amount of the timber cutting and timber sales here in the Puget Sound region takes place on privately owned property, either owned by an individual, a commercial or residential developer or even a camp or retreat property operated for youths or church members.

Washington Timberland Management, based in the sleepy little town of Union in Mason County, works with landowners, municipalities and private camp owners to assess timber values, clear timber and market it while simultaneously working with State regulatory agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to assure compliance with state and local law.

“We really tackle everything for our clients,” asserts company founder and president Gary Hanson. “We operate as a full-service forestry consulting firm. We cruise and appraise timber sites, provide silviculture reports and assist in bringing the timber to market. Most of all, we do it the correct way, with the necessary permits and under full compliance.”

Hanson founded the company in 1970 with his wife and corporate secretary, Pam. The company has since added two partners in the roles of vice president of operations and vice president of marketing and employs between seven and fifteen employees depending on client projects and field needs.

According to Hanson, there are approximately four million acres in the State of Washington owned by private landowners and classified as forestland. His firm is called in when those landowners want to “harvest the crop” of timber on their property for maximum value and stay within the guidelines established for the protection of wetlands, watersheds and endangered species.

The ability to do that effectively, says Hanson, is complicated. “What many people don’t realize is that there is no licensing law in the states of Washington or Oregon for a ‘consulting forester.’ In essence, that means that anyone can call themselves that which is why we constantly urge people to check references, check references, check references.”

The 56-year old Hanson points to his own background – a BS in forest management from the University of Washington and over thirty-five years in forestry management – and that of his partners when discussing the references necessary to insure safe, legal and profitable harvesting of privately owned timber.

Bob Schwarz, one vice president at Washington Timberland Management, previously managed a fifty-five thousand acre tree farm for Murray-Pacific while Joe Staley, their head of marketing, has more than twenty years experience in sales and marketing.

“We’ve been very successful in getting top dollar for our clients,” said Hanson. “In fact, I’d say that marketing timber products is really our forte. Sometimes, a domestic sale is in our client’s best interest, sometimes it’s a sale to an international buyer. Whichever we decide on together, our fiduciary responsibility is to our client, not the buyer, and we take that seriously.”

So seriously that all monies for the sale of timber products handled by the corporation is handled through client trust accounts, whether that’s for a single private landowner or one of the firm’s bigger clients, such as Easter Seals or the City of Bremerton.

“In an average year,” says Hanson, “we broker between twelve and twenty million board feet of timber and we’ve been in business for over thirty years. We strongly believe that the majority of our success has come about through word-of-mouth with no one client being too small or not deserving our complete attention.”.