I've looked into this fairly extensively in the past because we likely have a seven-figure windfall coming at some point and I was looking for ways to reduce my taxes.
Timber isn't going to give you great returns. I would consider timber to be a wealth preserver more than a wealth generator.
First you have to decide between hardwoods or soft woods. Pine brings less money but it grows faster and is harvested more frequently. However, when you cut pine an area is typically clear cut. So the land cycles from bare to forest and back again. Hard woods bring more money but it's typically best to select cut a stand of hard wood, meaning you only take the trees that are larger than a certain diameter. This leaves your land always looking like a forest.
The rates you'll get for timber vary by region and you can typically find mills or other lumber websites that will give you rough ideas of income per board foot. You can also find info online that will tell you roughly how many board feet of lumber you can expect to get from an acre of the various types of hardwoods. The rates are not necessarily similar as you move from region to region. Some places Cherry might be high because it's not as common and other places Oak might provide better rates. In the end, you typically select cut what you can from a whole tract regardless of species so you end up with a mix of income.
Soft woods may not be measured by the board foot, but I'm not sure. I know there's a pulp rate since a lot of pine is milled down for pulp. I haven't looked too much at soft woods because I didn't want to be clear cutting the land every 20 years.
Obviously the cost of the land determines how attractive the return is. However, you will not get so much income from a piece of land over your life time that it will actually pay for the property. This is why I say it's more of an income preserver. If you go with hard woods you'll select cut every 25-30 years. If you're young you'll probably get two cuts in while you're alive. So you'll get to take income from the property on two occasions and then in old age you'll still own the land, which will appreciate along the lines of inflation. If you go with soft woods you'll clear cut every 20 years but the income will be a little smaller.
Unless you have some serious investments in other places generating better returns I probably would not look at Timber very heavily.