The Crawford AuSable School District has entered into the timber business.

The Crawford AuSable School Board approved the first reading of a contract with Forest Resources Management of Frederic at its meeting on Monday.

The firm will manage the sale and harvest of about 40 acres of forest land located just north of County Road 612 off of Old 27 in Frederic Township.

Jerry Lambert, co-owner of Forest Management Resources, said the forest is mostly made up of aspen and a mix of hardwood trees that had been growing for about 70 years.

Lambert said the trees are starting to die off and fall over, and recommended the district log the forest and allow the trees to regenerate on a 30 to 40 year cycle.

The aspen and hardwood trees would likely be chipped or cut into logs and shipped to a lumber mill.

A stand of red pine, located closer to Old 27, will be thinned and allowed to grow larger.

Eventually, the trees could be used for construction of log cabins or used for power poles.

Lambert said the timber would be offered to lumber companies in the region, adding that the bidding process would drive the amount of funds the district would receive for the timber.

"Depending on the needs of the mills at that particular time may make the bids considerably different," Lambert said.

Lambert will also delineate the boundary lines for a second 40-acre forest the districts owns just off North Down River Road east of I-75.

Jack Pilon, the Crawford AuSable School Board president who is also a Department of Natural Resources forester, said the district obtained the forest property from the state in the 1920s.

Last year, Pilon said a state law passed which allowed school districts that own forests to sell the property and split the proceeds with the state.

Pilon said the school officials have no intentions of selling property, and hopes that school groups can visit the forest when logging is taking place so students can learn about trees, forest management and conservation.

"We need to make that connection between the trees in the ground and the paper they write on," Pilon said.

Pilon said school officials have not made any decisions on how the funds from the sale of timber will be used, but hopes they can be earmarked for a specific use and will not go into the district's general fund.

The timber sale will take place this spring, and the logging firms would be given two to three years to complete the harvest.

"You've got to give them some flexibility so they can accomplish the harvest," Pilon said.