Most forest owners don’t have a forester on speed dial. Is my timber ready to sell? What’s it actually worth? Should I be worried about that beetle damage? And if you’ve inherited land you’re paying taxes on but aren’t sure what to do with — where do you even start? The answers aren’t easy to find.
We built NCX because we believe every forest owner in the country deserves access to great information and personalized guidance about their land. Today, we’re taking a big step toward that vision: we’re sharing an early preview of Sylvia, a forest guide you can talk to anytime, right from your NCX dashboard.
What Sylvia can help with
Think of Sylvia as a friendly forestry expert who already knows something about your property. Here’s what you can ask her about:
Forest health and risks. Wondering what’s going on with your trees? Sylvia can help you assess the overall health of your forest and flag potential risks — from pest pressure to storm damage — based on what’s growing on your land.
Timber value. Thinking about selling timber but not sure what your trees are worth? Sylvia can walk you through the basics of your timber value — what species and sizes you have, and what that mix typically means in today’s market.
Wildlife management. Curious whether a thinning could improve wildlife habitat on your land — or what it might mean for hunting? Sylvia can talk through the tradeoffs between timber income, habitat quality, and long-term forest health for your unique property.
Timber tax basics. Tax season is here, and if you’ve harvested timber in the past year, there are some important tax topics you should be aware of. Sylvia can help you get oriented on capital gains treatment, reforestation deductions, and other considerations — so you know what to bring up with your CPA.
How Sylvia knows about your land
When you create a free NCX account and add your property, we build a rough estimate of your forest inventory — the mix of tree species, sizes, and volumes across your land. It’s not a substitute for a professional timber cruise, but it gives Sylvia enough context to personalize her answers to your specific property.
That means when you ask “what’s my timber worth?” you’re not getting a generic answer. You’re getting a response based on what we estimate is actually growing on your acres.
This is an early preview
We want to be upfront: this is early. We’ve been developing Sylvia for the past several months, and while we’re proud of what she can do, she’s not perfect. Her forest inventory estimates may not match what a professional forester would find on the ground, and she may occasionally get stumped by very specific local questions. We’re improving her every week.
That’s exactly why we’re sharing an early preview now. We want your feedback. Tell us what’s helpful, what’s confusing, and what you wish Sylvia could do better. Every conversation helps us improve Sylvia for all forest owners.
Try it today
If you have an NCX account, you can start a conversation with Sylvia right now — just log in and look for Sylvia in your dashboard. If you don’t have an account yet, it takes about two minutes to create one for free.
We think this is the beginning of something important: making expert-level forest guidance accessible to every landowner. We’d love for you to be part of shaping what Sylvia becomes.
Create a free accountPrefer to talk to a person? Give us a call at (229) 218-7119 — we’re happy to help you get started.