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Em Ty
Member
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:27pm
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Hi All,
I'm looking at buying some land in an unincorporated township in the Parry Sound area. I've been trying to find info on whether or not I can log the property for my own lumber and also if I'm allowed to clear some acreage for small-scale farming.
Anyone know what I can or can't do or where to go to find out?
Thanks
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TheWildMan
Member
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2014 05:58pm
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no idea about your area, contact your state/province conservation office, most states have a department of natural resources that can answer your questions, usually they just want you to follow bmps (best management practices) and not high grade forestland or dump oil in a river or create excessive soil erosion. since your interested in small scale farming you wouldn't need to worry about that stuff since violating bmps would ruin your farm anyway. you may find restrictions on logging but if you are clearing for farming it isn't considered logging. similarly around here there are some restrictions on logging but if you want to clear land for a corn field or house its ok.
either way your state conservation office should have the info for your area. townships rarely restrict things themselves unless its a bigger town and in village limits, if your in a restricted area (around here the Adirondack park restrictions apply), or if there are a lot of rich people building vacation homes and the town is kissing their behinds for the tax revinue.
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2014 06:09pm
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Wise of you to research this carefully before you buy. I did not here in California, now, come to find out that there are severe restrictions on clearing the land, and any logging timber for sale has to be done with a timber harvest plan prepared by a registered forester, which costs thousands of dollars. And, the owner can't do the work unless you are a licensed timber operator. I'm sure regulations are entirely different where you are but I'd be darn sure what they are if I planned to do a significant amount of clearing.
In California, the forestry laws are administered by CalFire, the dept of forestry and firefighting.
Let us know what you find out.
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Em Ty
Member
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2014 08:47pm
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Thanks for the suggestions, Wildman and bldginsp.
I forgot to mention that I'm in Ontario for those of you who aren't Canadian and aren't Bobby Orr fans. I also forgot to ask if the government would own the pine trees and if I'd have to pay stumpage fees on any logged pines.
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RobToth
Member
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# Posted: 11 Aug 2014 10:32pm
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In Ontario pine are reserved to the crown. You can harvest pine trees if you have applied, paid and given a quote, with a time frame restriction. Also, if you buy a land, make sure the right to the timber is not reserved to someone else. If it is, you are not allowed to cut a single tree with no permission. It may now not interest you, but if the right to the minerals are reserved to someone else, the prospector has to give you only 24 hours notice, and can start digging up your land. And there is nothing you can do about it. Of course, the land has to be restored to it's original condition after the mining operation is completed. Owning a land in an unorganized township, comes with different levels of freedoms. Some still require permits etc. some does not. Parry Sound area in my opinion is not North enough to enjoy freedom.
A good indication of how much the government sticks his nose into your business is, how much property tax they want you to pay. I think, 40 acres with $10/year property tax gives you a lot of freedom from the government. North of Timmins you can buy much bigger land with much lover property tax, and the government lets you to do almost anything.
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old243
Member
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# Posted: 14 Aug 2014 09:22am
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We own a property north east of you, as a hunt camp property. It is in an unorganized township. . As Rob T mentioned . The pine are reserved, to the crown. You can also check mineral rights. Find out if there is a forest management plan in place for the property, this could restrict how you approach your cutting , but also gives you a break on property taxes.
In our case we have no forest management plan in place, have about 600 acres. Have a logger doing our forest management. Our land hadn't been logged for many years, it had previously been ,highgraded, so there was a lot of overmature , poor quality timber . With log prices down, he is removing mostly firewood, and poor quality trees . As this is a hunting property we are interested in improving the forest for hunting as well as long term timber improvement.
We pay taxes to the school board and a local roads board, also a provincial land tax, a small amount.
There are no restrictions on cutting , but you should , for your own benefit , use common sense.
Hope this helps old243
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bc thunder
Member
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# Posted: 14 Aug 2014 07:05pm
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who would you call to find out if you own your own tree rights?
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old243
Member
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# Posted: 14 Aug 2014 10:01pm
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In Ontario I would call the mnr in the area where your property is located. If you are in southern Ontario , you might be affected by tree cutting bylaws, sometimes looked after by the county or region. Old243
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