Forestry Services for Western Virginia Landowners

Timber Basis Determinations

When you purchase or inherit timberland, the value of the standing timber at the time of acquisition becomes your timber basis, a critical number for federal tax purposes. A properly documented basis allows you to:

• Claim annual timber depletion deductions under IRC §631(a) as timber is harvested
• Calculate capital gains on timber sales at long-term capital gains rates rather than ordinary income
• Establish the stepped-up basis on inherited timberland for estate purposes
• File IRS Form T (Forest Activities Schedule) correctly

Overstory conducts a formal timber cruise of your property, documents species composition and volumes to a professional standard, and produces a written appraisal report suitable for your CPA or tax attorney.

Retroactive Back-Cruises

Most landowners never established timber basis at the time they acquired their land, particularly those who inherited forested property. A retroactive back-cruise solves this: it reconstructs what your timber was worth at acquisition, producing documentation your CPA or tax attorney can use.

The process: Overstory conducts a current timber cruise to determine present-day volumes, then uses species-specific growth rates, site productivity data, and regional yield tables to mathematically regress the stand back to the condition it was in on your acquisition date. The result is a professionally defensible estimate of what your timber was worth when you acquired the land.

This is the most technically complex service Overstory offers, and the one with the largest potential financial impact, particularly for landowners sitting on large volumes of mature Appalachian hardwood.

Forest Management Plans

A written forest management plan is a formal document describing your forest's current condition, your objectives as a landowner, and the silvicultural treatments recommended to achieve them.

For many landowners, a management plan is required rather than optional. Virginia Land Use Assessment (LUPA), the program that qualifies agricultural and forested land for preferential property tax treatment, requires an approved management plan for forested enrollments.

Beyond the paperwork requirement, a well-written plan is genuinely useful: it documents what species you have, where your most productive timber is, which areas have regeneration potential, and what treatments make sense given your goals, whether those are timber production, wildlife habitat, water quality, or aesthetic values.

Cost Share Program Assistance

Federal and state agencies offer cost share programs that reimburse private landowners for implementing forestry practices, including timber stand improvement, tree planting, prescribed fire, and stream buffers. Navigating the application process, practice specifications, and documentation requirements across multiple programs can be complex.

Overstory helps landowners identify which programs and practices are a good fit for their property, work through the application process, and ensure the documentation is in order for reimbursement.

The most common programs for western Virginia timberland owners are NRCS EQIP and state forestry cost share programs, though eligibility and available practices vary by county and funding cycle.