When a buyer scales their own state timber under a consumer scaling agreement with the Department of Natural Resources, Minn. Stat. 90.252 requires a bond (or cash in lieu) to protect the state's interest in the timber. The DNR sets the amount, and the premium is 0.5% of the bond amount, $100 minimum. The application collects no credit information.
















No underwriting queue for the standard timber scaler bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with the DNR. Here is the whole thing:
Your business details, the bond amount your scaling agreement requires, and the effective date — that is the entire application.
No waiting — the executed bond is generated as soon as you pay. Most applications approve instantly; if a check ever runs, it's a soft pull that won't affect your score.
Submit the executed bond to the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, with your scaling agreement. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Division insists.
Minnesota measures (“scales”) the timber cut from state land to determine what the buyer owes. Under Minn. Stat. 90.251, a timber buyer may scale their own products under a consumer scaling agreement with the Department of Natural Resources instead of relying on a state scaler.
Those agreements come with safeguards. Under Minn. Stat. 90.252, a consumer scaling agreement must provide for a bond or cash in lieu of a bond, plus other safeguards necessary to protect the interests of the state — so the state is made whole if the scaled volumes, and the payments tied to them, fall short.
Because the statute leaves the amount and conditions to the commissioner, there is no single fixed figure — you enter what your agreement requires. The premium is 0.5% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, and the form collects no credit information.
Submit the application with the bond amount your scaling agreement requires — the executed bond is generated instantly, ready to file with the DNR.
Start the application →0.5% of the bond amount with a $100 minimum. Enter the amount your scaling agreement requires and file with the DNR the same day.