Trees certainly can be seen as assets. A popular plan in the south is to plant pines and have them culled and block harvested for regular income. Pulpwood is a high turnover crop. Cull and wait and you get more money as they get large enough to be used for lumber. Most counties have an agricultural extension office that can give you information on selling trees or hook you up with someone who can can.

Singular trees can certainly be sold if the tree is worth enough to justify the truck and crew to cut it and get it to a lumber mill or broker. Some trees are in such high demand that they have become victims of 'midnight lumbering'. Hickory is so valuable, tens or thousands of dollars for a single unimpressive tree, that out of work tree men have been known to back up their truck, cut the tree and be down the road in just a couple of minutes.

I would caution that with the building boom gone bust the demand for wood is down and even exceptional trees can have their worth fall below the price of harvesting and shipping. If you sell now you could get a fraction of the payoff you might otherwise receive. The good news is that trees generally store well and if left alone, with minimum protection and coddling, only grow in worth.