Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Luke Terry, Custom Forestry Applications
At a glance: When Luke Terry took a job that involved putting out land improvement projects for bid, he got a surprise: There were very few contractors to do such projects. Terry started his own company that now offers multiple woodland, wildlife, and grassland conservation and improvement services in northeast Kansas.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Luke Terry
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Aug. 7, 2024
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
“I’m going to leave a piece of ground better than I found it.”
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower
That spirit of improving the land, as expressed by former President Eisenhower in regard to his Gettysburg farm, is found in the passion of a contemporary Kansan as well. This young Kansan is working hard to improve the timber and grasslands of rural Kansas.
Luke Terry is the founder of Custom Forestry Applications, LLC. Terry grew up in Robinson in northeast Kansas where his parents were teachers. He attended Highland Community College and then Kansas State University, where he earned a degree in park management and conservation.
At left: Luke Terry with daughter, Miah | Download this photo
“I had some K-State professors who helped me fall in love with conservation and tree identification,” Terry said. He worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation and then the Colorado state parks before returning to northeast Kansas to become environmental director for the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas.
In that role, he identified needed land improvement or wildlife restoration projects and put them out for bid, but he got a surprise: There were very few contractors to do such projects.
“We had the dollars but nobody to do the work,” Terry said. It led him to identify this as a market opportunity.
“I always had a drive to be an entrepreneur.”
In 2008 he formed Custom Forestry Applications, LLC and started doing land improvement projects on the side. In 2012, he went into the business full time.
Today, Custom Forestry Applications offers multiple woodland, wildlife and grassland conservation and improvement services. “We help manage timber for a variety of purposes,” Terry said.
Some of those purposes include creating a better habitat for wildlife such as deer, turkey, or quail, developing recreational areas, or simply improving the aesthetics of woodlands. The company performs pasture spraying, mechanical tree clearing, and cover crop planting.
Other projects include timber stand improvement and streambank stabilization. These may involve working one-on-one with an individual landowner or being part of a large-scale, multi-agency project.
The overall goal is to improve the forest environment. “This area was originally dominated by fire, usually from native Americans,” Terry said. “When fire was removed from the environment, a lot of shade-tolerant, fire-intolerant, and invasive species moved in,” he said.
“We work hard at improving that,” he said, adding that removing invasive species helps desirable species such as aging oak trees to reproduce.
“I’ve been blessed with lots of energetic, hard-working professionals who have worked with me,” Terry said. “We do boots-on-the-ground work. Other people can run a skid loader, but not many are willing to carry a chain saw through rough habitat (like we do).”
He values relationships with his customers and employees. “I have three priorities: Managing the natural resources well, coaching and training these young professionals, and hoping customers turn into friends,” Terry said.
“We plant thousands of conservation trees and shrubs each year. I truly feel that I was put out here to coach people and to improve the landscape.”
Terry’s wife is Jaime. They have daughters Miah and Brynn Williams.
Terry is also committed to his community. In 2022, Terry purchased a brick-and-mortar building in Robinson. “It had been an old car dealership with an overhead door,” Terry said. It is now a working facility for Custom Forestry Applications.
“My end goal would be to someday make it look like it did 85 years ago,” he said.
It is good to find this type of business in a rural community such as Robinson, population 183 people. Now, that’s rural.
“It’s all about the love of the land,” Terry said. “It’s been a real joy to improve the landscape together.”
For more information, search for Custom Forestry Applications on Facebook.
“I’m going to leave a piece of ground better than I found it.” Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed that commitment to land improvement decades ago and it is found in this young Kansan as well.
We salute Luke Terry and all those involved with Custom Forestry Applications for improving our woodlands and landscapes. They are leaving this ground even better than before.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well‑being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices, experiment fields, area extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.