Price County Puts 813 Acres of Timber Up for Bid

Last updated: November 2026

Price County is putting 813 acres of county forest timber up for bid this fall, across 11 separate sales. Ten of them are new tracts that have not been offered before.

The Forestry, Parks and Buildings Committee approved sending the packet out to bid at its November 3 meeting, on a motion that passed without dissent. Bids are due Monday, December 7, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.

Quick Answer: Price County’s Fall 2026 timber sale offers 11 tracts totaling 813 acres, 10 of them new. Sealed bids are due Monday, December 7, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. at the Price County Forestry & Parks Office, 104 S. Eyder Ave., Room 217, Phillips, WI 54555. Each bid must meet or exceed the county’s minimum price for every species and product on that tract, and must include a bid deposit of 10 percent of the total bid value. Bids are opened the morning of December 8 and presented to the Forestry, Parks and Buildings Committee that day.

What is actually in the Fall 2026 packet

The committee approved the packet described as 11 sales, 10 new, 813 acres, with what the administrator called “a mix of different timber types.” That is the full public description as of this writing.

The individual tract list has not been published yet. As of November 4, the county’s Timber Sales page still shows the 2026 Spring bid results and maps but no Fall 2026 packet. When it posts, the packet will carry a map for each tract, the species and product breakdown, approximate volumes, and the minimum acceptable bid for each line — the same format the county has used for every prior sale.

Buyers who need the list before it is posted should call the Forestry & Parks office at 715-339-6371. The office is the authoritative source, and it is the only place to get a packet that is not yet on the website.

How the bidding actually works

This is a sealed-bid stumpage sale, not an auction. The mechanics below come from the county’s own bid instructions, which are reproduced in the front of every sale packet. The April 2026 packet is the most recent one available and is the basis for this section.

Sealed bids, delivered — not emailed

Bids must be sealed and labeled, and must physically arrive at the Forestry & Parks Office by the deadline. The office is at 104 S. Eyder Ave., Room 217, in Phillips.

For the fall sale the deadline is Monday, December 7 at 4:00 p.m. The county opens bids the following morning and presents the results to the committee at its December 8 meeting, which starts at 9 a.m.

You must bid every line, at or above the minimum

Price County requires that the minimum acceptable bid price be met or exceeded for each species and product on a tract. A bid that wins on total value but falls below the floor on one species does not satisfy the requirement.

Each tract lists its species and products separately — typically mixed hardwood in tons, aspen in tons, basswood, balsam fir, maple logs in MBF, mixed hardwood logs in MBF, and mixed hardwood bolts in cords. The minimum price differs by species and by unit. Maple logs have carried a $199 to $240 per MBF floor in recent sales; mixed hardwood pulp has run around $5.60 to $7.00 per ton; aspen has run $10.40 to $13.00 per ton.

Whole-tree bidding is handled separately. If a buyer wants to bid a sale as whole tree rather than by product, the county requires a call first for the volume and minimum pricing.

The deposits are the part that catches people

Two deposits apply, at different points:

With the bid: 10 percent of the total bid value. This is returned to unsuccessful bidders.
On award: a contract deposit of one-fourth of the total estimated stumpage value, paid by the winning bidder. Failure to complete the contract forfeits the deposit.

Letters of credit are accepted in place of a performance bond, but they must carry an expiration date of December 31, 2028, 2029, or 2030. That requirement is specific and has tripped up bidders who submitted a shorter-dated letter.

Price is not the only criterion

The county states its evaluation criteria as price plus documented ability to complete the contract. The documentation is concrete: proposed equipment and operation, references, proof of financial stability, past performance, FISTA training, and BMP training.

The committee reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids.

Insurance before any work starts

A winning bidder must file an original certificate of insurance with the county before beginning work. It has to show workers’ compensation coverage with Price County named as an insured, plus $1,000,000 in liability insurance. If coverage lapses, work must stop immediately.

What the contract commits you to

These terms come from the same bid instructions and apply across sales:

Contracts expire May 31, 2028. Extensions are not guaranteed, and the county may raise stumpage rates if one is granted: up to 20 percent on a first extension, up to 50 percent on a second.
Ground conditions govern. Heavy equipment is restricted to firm or frozen ground. Rutting or other soil damage halts operations.
Roads are off limits for processing. No skidding, landing, or piling of wood products on county forest roads, town roads, county trunks, or cleared rights-of-way without permission from the agency that owns the road.
Harvesting standards apply. Wisconsin’s Forestland Woody Biomass Harvesting Guidelines and the state’s Best Management Practices for invasive species and water quality must be followed.
The forest is third-party certified, and the county requires “appropriate training” of its logging contractors to satisfy certification requirements.

Individual tracts carry their own silvicultural prescriptions in the packet — selection harvest, gap cuts, ash removal, regeneration harvest with species left standing, and reserve patches. Those prescriptions are tract-specific and are not uniform.

Why aspen volume is down this year

The county’s own forestry administrator gave a straightforward explanation at the November 3 meeting, and it is the most useful context for anyone bidding.

Price County has a glut of aspen that is simply too young to cut. The trees that came up after the 1977 storm are still maturing, and tornado damage near Kennan removed some of what was otherwise ready. The result is that aspen volume will run lower than usual for the next two to three years while those stands age into merchantable size.

Hardwood is the opposite case. Because the post-1977 hardwood surge is now coming due for a second thinning, the hardwood offering may actually run higher than the packet suggests.

For a buyer, that means the mix in this sale is weighted away from aspen and toward hardwood, and it will be for the next few cycles.

Where to get the packet and the answers

The county posts sale maps and prior bid results on its website, at co.price.wi.us/188/Timber-Sales. Results going back to 2016 are archived there, which is genuinely useful for pricing: a bidder can see what every species on a comparable tract actually sold for, by year, and who won it.

Recent results show the spread clearly. On the Spring 2026 sale, Tract 17-25 drew bids from $25,690 to $28,836.50. Tract 14-26 ranged from $61,070 to $80,085. Tract 3-26 had six bidders, from $27,250 up to $34,290. Aspen, which carried a $13.00 minimum on most of those tracts, drew bids as high as $25.00 a ton on Tract 8-26 and $21.00 on Tract 11-26. The results sheets mark the successful bidder on each tract with an asterisk.

Not every tract sells. On the December 2025 sale, at least three tracts recorded no bid at all.

The office contact is the fastest route for anything not yet posted:

Price County Forestry & Parks Department
104 S. Eyder Ave., Room 217, Phillips, WI 54555
Phone: 715-339-6371
Fax: 715-339-3027
Email: [email protected]

Frequently asked questions

When are Fall 2026 timber sale bids due?

Monday, December 7, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. Bids are opened the morning of December 8 and presented to the Forestry, Parks and Buildings Committee at its 9 a.m. meeting that day.

How many tracts are in the Fall 2026 sale?

Eleven sales covering 813 acres. Ten are new tracts; one is a re-offer. The county had not published the individual tract list as of November 4, 2026.

Can I email my bid?

The county’s instructions call for sealed and labeled bids delivered to the Forestry & Parks Office. There is no provision for email submission in the bid instructions. Call the office at 715-339-6371 if you need to confirm current practice.

How much deposit do I need?

Ten percent of your total bid value goes in with the bid. If you win, a contract deposit of one-fourth of the total estimated stumpage value is due on award.

Do I have to bid on every species?

You must meet or exceed the minimum acceptable bid for each species and product listed on the tract. The county states this explicitly in its bid instructions.

What happens if I win and cannot finish?

The contract deposit is forfeited. Contracts expire May 31, 2028, and extensions are not guaranteed.

Where can I see past sale prices?

The county archives bid results back to 2016 at co.price.wi.us/188/Timber-Sales, alongside the tract maps for each sale.

Sources

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