LEESVILLE — Money may not grow on trees, but it certainly grows in them. On May 1, landowners from across South Carolina will learn ways to maximize the profit from their timber.

“How To Make More Money Growing Trees” — a daylong workshop and an alternate evening session — will address the basics of growing profitable timber.

Organized by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service, the workshop will be led by Brooks Mendell, a consultant in the timber and bioenergy industries.

The daylong program will begin at 8 a.m. at the T&S Farm in Leesville. A separate, condensed two-hour evening session starting at 6 p.m. is available.

Fees cover meal and accompanying materials. Details on the program are available from Teresa Kinsey in the Calhoun County Extension office, 803-874-2354, tkinsey@clemson.edu.

With annual timber sales valued at more than half a billion dollars, timber is the Palmetto State’s most-valuable harvested commodity. Family forest owners control more than half the state’s forestland.

Vice president for research at Georgia-based Forisk Consulting, Mendell specializes in timber markets, wood bioenergy and forest business and operations. A Fulbright Scholar in Uruguay, his experience includes roles in harvest operations and procurement with Weyerhaeuser, in management consulting with Accenture and as a member of the forestry and finance faculties at the University of Georgia.

Topics for the workshop include the economics of growing trees, principles of forest finance and protecting a timber investment.

Partners in the program include the South Carolina Forestry Commission, South Carolina Forestry Association, the South Carolina Tree Farm Committee, the Plum Creek Foundation and the Klausner Group.