In October of this year I purchased 82 acres in Harrington Delaware. Its been a timber farm since the 1920's. It was owned by Glatfelter Holdings prior to me. They are a pulp company. They had been managing this land while they owned it. The land was timbered back in 2011. 60 acres was selectively timbered and there was 20 acres that was completely clear cut and that was replanted and it a super thick impenetrable thicket. The trails going into this thicket are insane. The clear cuts in the 60 acres that was selectively timbered are crazy thick as well. There are two tax ditches that kind of perfectly break the property up into three sections. The roads along the tax ditches are going to be plots this spring and fall. I was super impressed with the foresters. We walked the property and they are going to write up a plan for me for the next 50 years to keep it as attractive to wildlife as possible. They gave me a ton of information on cost sharing a lot of the projects I want to do such as a small pond, clearing some additional space for food plots in that 20 acre thicket and I need two bridges. They also presented me with some information on selling the development rights to the property. My plan is to put the land in a trust anyway to prevent it from being sold by my heirs. I have 5 kids, sorry about their luck but their not selling it. The wife and I have rental properties they can sell off if they want too. Anyone have any experience with selling the development rights etc...??? The way it was broke down is that I apply and they then do an appraisal on the property and let me know what it is worth from an AG standpoint. I then request the percentage I am willing to take of that value to never develop the land. For every 20 acres I own I am allowed to develop an acre but it cannot be for industry etc...just a home site etc. So I could still put 4 homes with an acre each on this land after selling the development rights. Curious to any pros or cons any of you have experienced.
Met with foresters today?
- Thread starter bzb_1
- Start date
Bill
Administrator
Don’t know much about farmland preservation but a lot of it happened over here across the bridge in NJ years ago.
They won’t like it but if I were you, I’d subdivide the best 10 acres for building lots out of it. Then put the rest in the program.
Always nice to have options.
As for food plots etc, what’s around the land? Any ag ground?
You may not need food plots. Maybe just man made trails though the property that the deer will use on day one if it’s that thick.
Read a lot here and formulate a plan before you just do something for the sake of doing it.
If I had 80 acres of thick knarly stuff that already held deer my plan would be to route their movement through that land to exactly where I wanted to kill them. Based on stand access and prevailing winds.
They won’t like it but if I were you, I’d subdivide the best 10 acres for building lots out of it. Then put the rest in the program.
Always nice to have options.
As for food plots etc, what’s around the land? Any ag ground?
You may not need food plots. Maybe just man made trails though the property that the deer will use on day one if it’s that thick.
Read a lot here and formulate a plan before you just do something for the sake of doing it.
If I had 80 acres of thick knarly stuff that already held deer my plan would be to route their movement through that land to exactly where I wanted to kill them. Based on stand access and prevailing winds.
Weezy
5 year old buck +
I bought land off of Glatfelter as well, in PA though. They've sold their land under market value, which is nice. Seems like they've been selling off alot of their land lately.
Good luck with your bridges. I need a couple as well but don' know if i want to open up that can of worms.
Good luck with your bridges. I need a couple as well but don' know if i want to open up that can of worms.
My experience with Glatfalter was horrible from the start. It almost made me walk away from the deal several times. I offered a fair price expecting a counter offer. Their counter was 17k more than their asking price. 4 months later I get a call out of the blue saying they would take my offer but only if I’d settle in 30 days. Sure no problem. They said the property was not in any conservation programs. The day I met with my attorney he showed me it was in two. I waited two months to get a copy of their plan. Lots of other small things that was 100% their fault drug settlement out to 4 months. I’d never do business with them again unless it was absoluteky necessary.
I have Ag on two sides of my border but my goal is to make my land as attractive as I can to keep them on me as much as possible. I have two of their three needs met. Adding 8 acres of food I would think can only help. I’ll be clearing 4 acres out of 20 plus what’s already clear. I don’t think it’ll hurt at all.
j-bird
Moderator
The only advice I can give you is to talk to an attorney that specifically deals with land. Sounds like you are looking for a "land trust". I have not looked into them in great detail, but from what I have read that sounds like what you are looking for. Be careful with anything that involves the government or legally binding contracts...there are typically strings attached, sometimes serious ones. The cost share is often nice, but sometimes the restrictions or potential penalties are not worth it. I personally have found government "experts" a decent resource for suggestions, but they tend to lack vision beyond their area of expertise...
westonwhitetail
5 year old buck +
I looked at buying a piece of land in Wisconsin that was in a land trust (had a conservation easement on the land). Beautiful piece of land but they can't sell it. I read the easment and would not want one on my own place. You couldn't build a home, storage shed, or a permanent tree stand. They also have restrictions on the use of the land and things like spraying, clearing trees etc. I would of had to request to do many of the types of projects on my own land. Also the DNR has access to your land to inspect if you are abiding by the terms of the easement.
It just seemed to add a bunch of mess to an otherwise great property for a one time payment, but maybe it is what you want to limit future development. While you are setting the easement up I think you have a say on the types of restrictions. Maybe if you were in on it from the begining, you could structure it better and set yourself up for the future. But its hard to say what you want to do in 30 years, and you could regret it.
It just seemed to add a bunch of mess to an otherwise great property for a one time payment, but maybe it is what you want to limit future development. While you are setting the easement up I think you have a say on the types of restrictions. Maybe if you were in on it from the begining, you could structure it better and set yourself up for the future. But its hard to say what you want to do in 30 years, and you could regret it.
