Tree Value Calculator
Put a defensible dollar figure on a standing tree, either as a replacement-cost appraisal using the CTLA trunk formula or as merchantable timber scaled in board feet.
🌲 What is Tree Value?
Tree value is the money figure attached to a standing tree, and it splits into two very different questions depending on why you are asking. If the tree is a living amenity, a shade maple beside a driveway or a street oak, its value is the cost of putting an equivalent tree back, which is a replacement-cost appraisal. If the tree is a crop, a straight sawlog stem in a woodlot, its value is what a mill will pay for the wood fibre inside it, which is a timber scaling question. This calculator answers both, because landowners routinely need one number for an insurance claim and a completely different number for a harvest contract.
The amenity side uses the trunk formula published by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers, usually shortened to CTLA. The method exists because a mature tree cannot simply be bought and planted. Nursery stock stops at a certain transplantable size, so beyond that point the appraiser scales the cost of the largest available tree upward in proportion to trunk cross-sectional area, then depreciates that basic value for how desirable the species is, how healthy the specimen is, and how well it is placed on the site. Courts, insurers, municipalities and utilities all recognise this approach, which is why it is the number arborists reach for after a storm, a construction injury or an unauthorised removal.
The timber side works from log rules, which are empirical tables that convert a log's small-end diameter and length into board feet of lumber. Three rules dominate in North America. Doyle deducts a fixed four-inch slab allowance and badly understates small logs. Scribner is a diagram rule that sits in the middle. The International 1/4-inch rule models saw kerf and taper properly and is the closest to actual mill recovery. Because a buyer's offer depends on which rule the logs are scaled by, comparing two quotes without knowing the rule is meaningless.
The trap most people fall into is assuming the two numbers should be similar. They are not. A single mature front-yard oak can appraise at well over ten thousand dollars as an amenity, while the same stem sold as sawlogs might fetch a few hundred. One measures the cost of restoring a landscape service, the other measures the market price of wood. This calculator keeps them in separate modes so you never accidentally quote one when you need the other.
📐 Formula
📖 How to Use This Calculator
Steps
💡 Example Calculations
Example 1 — Mature Front-Yard Oak
24 inch DBH, 65 per sq in, species 80%, condition 75%, location 70%
Example 2 — Small Boundary Tree of a Weak Species
12 inch DBH, 65 per sq in, species 60%, condition 90%, location 50%
Example 3 — Woodlot Sawlogs Scaled by Doyle
20 logs, 16 inch small end, 16 ft long, 450 per MBF, Doyle rule
Example 4 — The Same Logs Scaled by the International Rule
20 logs, 16 inch small end, 16 ft long, 450 per MBF, International 1/4-inch rule
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
🔗 Related Calculators
How do you calculate the value of a tree?
The CTLA trunk formula multiplies trunk area at breast height by a regional unit tree cost to get a basic value, then depreciates it by species, condition and location ratings. A 24 inch trunk is 452 square inches, and at 65 dollars per square inch the basic value is 29,405, which falls to 12,350 after 80, 75 and 70 percent ratings.
What is the CTLA trunk formula method?
It is the replacement-cost appraisal method published by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers. It is used when a tree is too large to replace with nursery stock, so its cost is scaled up from the largest transplantable size using trunk cross-sectional area, then depreciated for species desirability, physical condition and site placement.
How is trunk area calculated for tree appraisal?
Trunk area is the circle area at diameter at breast height, so pi times the radius squared. A 24 inch DBH gives pi times 12 squared, which is 452.4 square inches. If you measured circumference with a tape, divide by pi first to get diameter, then square half of it.
What is a good unit tree cost per square inch?
Regional appraisal guides typically publish values between 30 and 90 dollars per square inch of trunk area, with high-cost urban markets running higher. The figure comes from the installed price of the largest commonly available nursery tree divided by its own trunk area, so it already includes planting labour and establishment care.
What do the species, condition and location ratings mean?
Species rating reflects how desirable and long-lived the species is locally. Condition rating reflects health, structure, trunk defects and crown density. Location rating blends site placement, contribution to the property and functional value. Each is a percentage, and the three multiply together, so 80, 75 and 70 percent give a combined 42 percent of basic value.
What is the difference between Doyle, Scribner and International log rules?
They are three ways of estimating board feet from a log's small-end diameter and length. Doyle deducts a heavy slab allowance and understates small logs, International 1/4-inch models the saw kerf and taper most accurately, and Scribner falls between the two. On a 16 inch by 16 foot log they read 144, 185.7 and 166.2 board feet.
How much is a thousand board feet of timber worth?
Standing stumpage commonly runs from about 100 dollars per MBF for low-grade pine pulpwood to well over 1,000 dollars per MBF for veneer-quality black walnut or white oak. Delivered mill prices are higher because they include felling, skidding and hauling, so always confirm whether a quote is stumpage or delivered.
Is timber value the same as appraised tree value?
No, and the two often differ by an order of magnitude. Timber value is what the wood fibre sells for once the tree is cut, typically tens to hundreds of dollars. Appraised value under the trunk formula is the cost of replacing the living amenity, which for a mature shade tree beside a house is frequently five figures.
Does tree value increase with age?
It increases with trunk diameter, which is loosely tied to age, but only while condition holds. Once decay, dieback or storm damage pull the condition rating down, the depreciation outruns the growth in trunk area, so a hollow veteran can appraise well below a sound tree half its size.
Can I use this appraisal for an insurance claim?
It gives you a defensible starting figure using the same trunk formula method insurers and courts recognise, but a claim normally needs a written report from a qualified arborist who has inspected the tree. It is worth sanity-checking an adjuster's offer against the trunk formula figure, since the result is highly sensitive to the condition rating.
How do I measure DBH on a leaning or forked tree?
On a leaning stem, measure perpendicular to the trunk axis at 4.5 feet along the trunk rather than 4.5 feet vertically. If the tree forks below breast height, most protocols measure each stem separately, compute trunk area for each, and sum the areas before applying the unit cost.
Why does the appraised value drop so fast with a poor condition rating?
Because the ratings multiply rather than add. A tree at 80 percent species, 40 percent condition and 70 percent location keeps only 22.4 percent of basic value, whereas the same tree at 75 percent condition keeps 42 percent. Condition is usually the single biggest lever an arborist's report can move.