Some people are just grumps

[johneh]

My Sons and I own a very large chunk of land some farm some bush.
We get very angry when we find people on our land. We pay the
taxes. WE are the ones who are responsible if you get hurt. The
land is posted. We will let you on the land but ask for permission first
That includes people looking for firewood (downed trees only) No trails
No cutting of live wood. WE DO HAVE TRESSPASSORS CHARGED.
There may be places we do not want you like my trout stream is a NO NO
It starts as a spring on my land and ends at the lake all my land
On cropland, In the fields where we keep the cattle ( pasture) and others
If you want something
on someone else's property ASK FIRST
It does not matter What or Where it is

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Like I said all you have to do is call your local Assessments department and give them an address or an approximate address, our local one is always very helpful to help get me the owner's name and sometimes number, but most times I can figure it out what their phone number is. And I ALWAYS write down who I talked to and the date and the time, and I make sure that I have that information with me when I am there taking the wood, that way if someone starts questioning you just pull it out and tell them "I called County Assessments and they told me this land is owned by so and so and I called and got permission from them on such and such day and time" and there should be no issues after that.

I know it is so tempting sometimes, you see wood just laying there for a long time and figure it is okay to take it, no one wants it.....but you're better off making sure about it, then you have no issues. And as you found out sometimes the owner DOES show up and you actually got away lucky by him saying take what you have and leave, he could've been a lot more agitated by it and done something else.

 

[Sawset]

Power company was just through trimming trees. All locus.
The road right of way extends 30ft from center line to just left of the power pole.
The power company has an easement to place power lines and poles. To the right is land privately owned.
The surveyors plat would show lot lines to the center of the road and acreage would include that.
The surveyor corner markers however are 30ft from center line.
Would you - stop and get it?

 

[johneh]

In Ontario Canada, your property stars 33ft from the CL of the road (fence Line)
also, it is Iligale to remove anything from the road allowance in Ontario. So here you can not touch it
on the road allowance, over the fence or the Hydro right away. Starting at 33 ft it belongs to the property owner
It is simple Just Ask The property Owner nine out of ten times he will say yes. If you take it without
permission it is theft and you can be charged

 

[bholler]

Just so you all don't think I'm a jerk -- this past summer a new neighbor had a ton of trees taken down on his property. It was just laying in his yard for weeks. As a way to introduce myself, I asked if he had plans for the wood, and he said I could have it all. It ended up being 5 cord. This was in a residential neighborhood with 15 to 20 mph speed limits.

The wood in this thread was on a main, rural road with 50 mph speed limits, and no sign of a house. The wood had been sitting there for 4 months, right on the side of the road. But, point taken. I will try to figure out who owns it next time, and ask, even in this situation. By "town land" I meant owned by the town because it's right next to the road. I didn't imply conservation land.

Maybe I'm naive, but I was just surprised by his gruffness. If I saw someone on my property right next to the road collecting pine needles or leaves, I'd at least be friendly. Even if there was wood there, and they were cutting it up, I would at least strike up a friendly conversation.

I don't think you are a jerk. And I don't think he handled it well either. But the fact is it was wood on his property you were taking without permission. If that was done to me I would be pissed.

 

[bholler]

Power company was just through trimming trees. All locus.
The road right of way extends 30ft from center line to just left of the power pole.
The power company has an easement to place power lines and poles. To the right is land privately owned.
The surveyors plat would show lot lines to the center of the road and acreage would include that.
The surveyor corner markers however are 30ft from center line.
Would you - stop and get it?

That depends upon local laws. We have a power line right of way over our property. But the land and trees belong to us. We actually get paid for any trees they take down. So in pa you would need to get permission from the landowner. In other areas that may be public land (which may or may not mean the wood is up for grabs) or it could be owned by the utility again may or may not be available. It comes down to knowing the laws. And when ever in doubt ask anyone around who could be bothered by you cutting there who owns the property because you are interested in harvesting the wood.

 

[bholler]

And what is with locus? Is that a regional thing or something I have never seen the t dropped untill recently

 

[Zack R]

Sounds like a lesson learned all around - he must not have been that upset since he let you take what you had loaded.

 

[KC Matt]

I could see the situation from either perspective. Sounds like the wood was on public property but the adjacent land owner sees the public land as his and feels miffed at somebody taking something he believes is his (though he's probably wrong).

The wood was probably on public land but it is still a good idea to talk to the adjacent land owner about taking it. You can find property owners by googling "my county, my state, GIS" at least around here. It shows owners, approximate property line and a satellite view which usually has a measuring tool. It's really interesting looking at the GIS in my neighborhood.

 

[KC Matt]

And what is with locus? Is that a regional thing or something I have never seen the t dropped untill recently

Locust seems to be like a weed that spreads below ground, sometimes a dozen yards at a time, and sprouts prickly risers along the way and once established it sprouts further. Left alone it seems to grow into trees that grow nice and straight, up to about 75' tall. Beautiful wood and great firewood. It's a nice ornamental yard tree in the city, but in the country is a nightmare. That's honey locust, black locust is probably the same.

I've always lived in the midwest and Locust is everywhere here. It's our kudzu.

 

[bholler]

Locust seems to be like a weed that spreads below ground, sometimes a dozen yards at a time, and sprouts prickly risers along the way and once established it sprouts further. Left alone it seems to grow into trees that grow nice and straight, up to about 75' tall. Beautiful wood and great firewood. It's a nice ornamental yard tree in the city, but in the country is a nightmare. That's honey locust, black locust is probably the same.

I've always lived in the midwest and Locust is everywhere here. It's our kudzu.

Yes I know what locust is. I was questioning calling it locus.

 

[bholler]

I could see the situation from either perspective. Sounds like the wood was on public property but the adjacent land owner sees the public land as his and feels miffed at somebody taking something he believes is his (though he's probably wrong).

The wood was probably on public land but it is still a good idea to talk to the adjacent land owner about taking it. You can find property owners by googling "my county, my state, GIS" at least around here. It shows owners, approximate property line and a satellite view which usually has a measuring tool. It's really interesting looking at the GIS in my neighborhood.

It may very well not be public land. I own to the center line of the road.

 

[EODMSgt]

I have to chase people off my property every year for different reasons so I can sympathize with the land owner. I talked with an Asplundh foreman last year when they were doing some line clearing and up this way and (at least according to him) the power companies have an easement however the land still belongs to the property owner. Thus any trees cut aren't 'fair game' but belong to whomever owns the deed.

 

[trguitar]

Power company was just through trimming trees. All locus.
The road right of way extends 30ft from center line to just left of the power pole.
The power company has an easement to place power lines and poles. To the right is land privately owned.
The surveyors plat would show lot lines to the center of the road and acreage would include that.
The surveyor corner markers however are 30ft from center line.
Would you - stop and get it?

No. Too far in. And too much wood. I would definitely figure out who owns it first.

 

[brenndatomu]

Power company was just through trimming trees. All locus.
The road right of way extends 30ft from center line to just left of the power pole.
The power company has an easement to place power lines and poles. To the right is land privately owned.
The surveyors plat would show lot lines to the center of the road and acreage would include that.
The surveyor corner markers however are 30ft from center line.
Would you - stop and get it?

Nope. Somebody else's property. If it lay there a while I might stop and inquire about it though...

 

[heavy hammer]

I would ask before taking it.

 

[trail guy Mike]

I frequently carry a chain saw. It's battery powered, so there's no gas or gas odor in my SUV. Sometimes I find a tree or limb in the road, so I stop and cut it. Sometimes I take the wood.
If someone "owns" the property (and the wood) to the center line of the road, but it's a hazard to traffic, is it still best to somehow find out who owns this adjacent property, rather than just cut the wood?

This state of North Carolina was one of 13 colonies, but the GIS I am looking at shows property lines separated by 30 to 60 feet from those on the other side of the road. County roads and state roads.

In the Firewood For Sale ads, I have seen locus, loctus, and just this week loacas.

 

[firefighterjake]

Random thoughts . . .

I always ask . . . but that's just me. I would rather be told "no" than to inadvertently take someone's wood they were planning to use and just had not got around to yet.

As mentioned . . . different states . . . different easements. Here in Maine power line corridors and easements may be owned by the power line company or the individual landowner.

For the record I don't think the original poster is a jerk . . . or meant any harm. He just didn't know. Personally, he sounds like a pretty decent guy.

With our ATV Club when I am trying to determine who owns what property I rely on nearby neighbors and the town assessment maps. Recently one of our members, an avid hunter, told me about OnXHunt which apparently uses GPS to identify the property and owner -- although one might still wish to doublecheck its accuracy.

Finally . . . I was one of those folks who actually did have wood taken off my property from the side of the road. The town ended up cutting down a dead elm. Due to work and time constraints I could not pick up the wood which was beside the road for a few days . . . and then I came home to find half of the wood missing. Fortunately, my next door neighbor (a retired school teacher) is a one-person Neighborhood Watch who sees all and knows all . . . so a quick conversation with her and I knew where my wood ended up. Turns out the guy the town hired to cut the tree assumed I would not want the wood after seeing it still sitting there after a few days. He offered to return the wood he took, but I told him to keep what he had . . . besides . . . he thought it was an ash, not an elm and without a hydraulic splitter I figured the pain of trying to split that elm with an ax and maul would be punishing enough for him (actually I knew him and he was a decent guy -- just made a wrong assumption.)

 

[tadmaz]

Every county that I've ever looked at has an online GIS system where it's very easy to see who owns a parcel.