Stumpage

Stumpage is the price charged by a land owner to companies or operators for the right to harvest timber on that land. Stumpage used to be calculated on a "per stump" basis (hence the name). It is now usually charged by tons, board feet or by cubic metres.

Stumpage is a form of royalty paid to the owner of the trees, or the land on which they sit.

A dispute over the stumpage rates has led to the ongoing Canada–United States softwood lumber dispute since 1982, once of the worlds largest and most persistant trade disputes. Canadian provincial governments own most forested land in Canada, "Crown lands", and the governments set the stumpage fees by legislation. This is is contrast to the United States where stumpage is determined through competitive auction. The United State's trade representatives have argued that stumpage fees in Canada are set artificially low by governments, which amounts to a subsidy, which is denied by Canada.