Ideally, and in concurrence to other posters here, after the trees are felled the logs are debarked immediately and sunk in a pond or river for at least a month. The water helps leach sap from the log, which, once removed, will promote more even and thorough drying later on, and removes a source of food for insects.
Then the logs are pulled out and air-dryed for a few months. If left in the round, draw-knifing off the sapwood is wise, and the spine of the log should be kerfed and that kerf wedged. Wedges are tapped in a little more every week or so, depending upon drying conditions. This forces all, or nearly all, of the drying loads to manifest in the kerf, which will open up to a pie-wedge shape as the log dries.
If the timbers are converted immediately to baulks, that is a good thing, but if any of those timbers have the heart boxed, then the kerfing should be done. Sawing should be done so as to remove as much sapwood as possible.
Further drying is all good - if a radio-frequency kiln is available, I'd put the material in there. Otherwise, a solar kiln, say, and a long gentle drying cycle would be in order. The problem of course with certain woods, like Douglas Fir and some Pines, is that unless the sap is crystallized by sufficient heat in a forced drying process the material will have the propensity for pitch pockets and bleeding sap from time to time. Most clients aren't too fond of that oozing out onto their carpets and couch!
Some woods, like Yellow Cedar, can't be dried in kilns apparently, but I suspect this has a lot to do with the stubborn sap.
I'm with Brad - I'd rather cut joinery in dry timber than deal with the shrinking, checking, deformation, and drying issues that arise with green material. The shrinkage that occurs with green material renders the tightest of joints sloppy.
