Preliminary estimates of harvesting costs for forest fuel reduction treatments in the West are presented. Cost estimates were made for typical stands based on Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots that represented forest stands in 12 western states, using the ST Harvest spreadsheet system. Costs were estimated for a range of harvesting systems, forest conditions, and harvest intensity levels. The approach is described, functional form of the cost equation is presented and discussed, and initial average costs are summarized based on a small sub-sample of the data.