Seeds of hope arise for American Chestnuts, head of Alabama chapter of American Chestnut Foundation says

I ran across this article on al.com on the American Chestnut.  It looks like we might be making progress in the quest to grow American Chestnut trees again.  I’ve mentioned before on this blog that growing a native species that is a fast-growing, good timber producer, and a producer of a marketable fruit could be a big boost for Alabama’s forest industry.  We are told that the American Chestnut was once almost as important to our forest’s production as Loblolly pines are today.  It would be a great thing to be able to take my sons and grandsons to the woods one day and see the beautiful white blooms it has covering the forest as the article describes.  If, in the coming years, you have an opportunity to support this effort, please do.  It’s a worthwhile effort.  Both ecologically and economically, promoting a blight resistant strain of this species will benefit Alabamians for generations to come.

Here is the article:

Seeds of hope arise for American Chestnuts, head of Alabama chapter of American Chestnut Foundation says

Here is a map of the native range of the American Chestnut provided by the American Chestnut Foundation.

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Witness Tree in Perry County, Alabama

Witness Tree in Perry County, Alabama

Witness Tree in Perry County, Alabama

I was walking the boundaries of a 78 acre tract of land I have for sale in Perry County, Alabama and found this amazing witness tree.

A few days ago, my friend Robert King, an agent with AlaLandCo, posted an article that talked about witness trees and arborglyphs in Bankhead National Forest. It is striking that I read that article and found this tree in the same week.

The 78 acre hunting tract joins the Talladega National Forest on several sides. As I was walking the east boundary of the property, I came across this large tree, which I take for a tulip poplar (I am not a forester). The tree was so large that I had to reach around it twice just to measure its girth.

A witness tree is one that has been marked in some way to indicate the location of a property boundary, some significant land mark, or cultural event. A tree that bears drawings from Native Americans or others is called an arborglyph. In the picture above you will notice that someone made marks in the tree with an axe or other sharp instrument. The tree bears many markings. Some other trees that have been culturally modified are called “trail trees“. These trees have a sharp curve in them, that usually point in a specific direction or indicate that water or shelter is close by.

Witness trees are becoming increasingly rare, particularly in West Alabama. Alabama has an active logging industry, and the sheer age of these trees means that we are losing more and more of these historical artifacts as time passes.

I suppose it is inevitable that many of these trees will be lost to disease, storms, logging, or old age, but everyone who is interested should have the opportunity to see how forest boundaries were marked before the advent of modern survey equipment, barbed wire, and the gps.

This particular witness tree is located about 500′ off the north side of Perry County Road 23, along the Talladega National Forest boundary. If you would like more information about the location of this tree or land for sale bordering the Talladega National Forest, please contact me.

I strongly believe that owning land that joins a National Forest or management area is a great investment. They are some of the best neighbors you can have. Please call me for all of your rural Alabama land needs.

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393 acres +/- Premier Recreational Property in Wilcox County, Alabama

393 acres +/- of outstanding deer hunting land with unending recreational opportunities for sale in Alabama. Whether you are looking for that special hunting tract, a place to retire or simply just to get away from it all the Furman Farm is truly a receational paradise. Furman Farm features 393+-acres of beautiful rolling fields, hardwoods, mature pines, established roads and trails,11 food plots with shooting houses, a 9+-acre bass and bream lake, and a nice 4 bedroom/ 2 bath fully-furnished home. The farm also boasts a large Morton metal building with a bunk room, full bath, kitchenette area, fenced dog kennels, 6 stall horse stables with tack room and 2 wash racks, hay storage, and a shavings area. The barn joins a fenced and cross-fenced pasture. Additionally there are many other features including a large equipment shed. Whether you want to hunt, fish, ride horses or 4 wheelers on the trails, this property has it all! An additional 300 acres with frontage on Cedar Creek  is available for lease; making this almost 700 acres of recreational paradise! The property is also well-suited for quail hunting. The land, house, and all ammenities are for sale for the great price of $923,550! Please contact me today for your private showing on this outstanding recreational property.

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Navigate for Real Estate Using Mapping Technology

I ran across this article about using current mapping technology in your land search and thought it would be helpful information for you.  It is from Cooperative Farming News, a publication of the Alabama Farmer’s Cooperative, and is written by John Howle from Heflin, Alabama.

Here is a link directly to the article:

Navigate for Real Estate Using Mapping Technology

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New Website for Charity Deer Hunts launches today…

Charitydeerhunt.com launches today in an effort to help nonprofit organizations advertise their outdoor fundraising events to hunters around the world.

This website was developed by Jonathan Goode, who helps organize a fundraising hunt for Marion Academy, where his children attend.

Schools, nonprofits, churches, and other charitable organizations are encouraged to contact Jonathan about advertising their event. Advertising on the site is free to Alabama charitable organizations, and a small fee is charged for events not held in Alabama.

The first event advertised on the site is Marion Academy's annual deer hunt being held January 14-16, 2011 in Marion, Alabama.

Please check back often for an updated list of upcoming outdoor events that benefit schools, churches, and other nonprofit organizations.

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A Large Block of Alabama Timberland for Sale

Conecuh River land for sale
Conecuh River runs through it
AlaLandCo is offering a new block of 2630 acres +/- of intensively managed timberland for sale in Escambia County, Alabama near the city of Brewton.
This land is being offered in parcels that vary in size as follows: 251 acres +/-, 328 acres+/-, 551 acres +/-, 639 acres +/-, and 861 acres +/- .
Managed Pine Plantation for sale in Escambia County, Alabama
Managed Pine Plantation

The timber on these tracts varies from 12-year-old planted pines, to 19-year-old stands. Loblolly, longleaf, and hardwood bottoms constitute the majority of the timber on these tracts.

The Conecuh and Sepulga Rivers run throughout the different properties, and some of the tracts have frontage on Alabama Highway 29.
Each tract would make a good timber investment that also offers numerous recreational and hunting opportunities. The properties have good internal road systems, and utilities are available to some of the parcels as well. Please contact me for more information about these great timberland investments.
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List of Alabama’s Public Shooting Ranges

It's deer hunting season again in Alabama, and if you haven't already sighted in your rifle, it's time to get out to the range and make sure you are zeroed before you head to the woods.

Here is a link to the list of Alabama's public shooting ranges.

Before you head out to the range don't forget to pack the following items:

  1. Ear plugs or muffs
  2. Shooting glasses
  3. Sandbag or shooting vice
  4. Weapon and ammunition (just went this weekend and forgot the clips to the rifle).
  5. Target (staple gun and staples)
  6. Marker or stickers to indicate holes that have already been shot
  7. Optics for checking the target (binoculars, spotting scope, etc..)

Once you arrive at the arrange practice safe shooting habits.

  1. Keep the breach open and clear of ammunition until you are your station.
  2. Always keep the barrel pointed down-range.
  3. Treat every gun as if it is loaded.
  4. Stay behind other shooters.
  5. Never proceed down-range until the "all clear" is given.
  6. Wear you safety gear.

Enjoy your time at the range and please be safe. Please contact me if I can be helpful with any of your rural land needs in Alabama.

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List of Public Shooting Ranges in Alabama

It’s deer hunting season again in Alabama, and if you haven’t already sighted in your rifle, it’s time to get out to the range and make sure you are zeroed before you head to the woods.

Here is a link to the list of Alabama’s public shooting ranges.

Before you head out to the range don’t forget to pack the following items:

  1. Ear plugs or muffs
  2. Shooting glasses
  3. Sandbag or shooting vice
  4. Weapon and ammunition (just went this weekend and forgot the clips to the rifle).
  5. Target
  6. Marker or stickers to indicate holes that have already been shot
  7. Optics for checking the target (binoculars, spotting scope, etc..)

Once you arrive at the arrange practice safe shooting habits.

  1. Keep the breach open and clear of ammunition until you are your station.
  2. Always keep the barrel pointed down-range.
  3. Treat every gun as if it is loaded.
  4. Stay behind other shooters.
  5. Never proceed down-range until the “all clear” is given.
  6. Wear you safety gear.

Enjoy your time at the range and please be safe. Please contact me if I can be helpful with any of your rural land needs in Alabama.

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Visit the Alabama Realtors Land Institute Website

The Alabama Chapter of the Realtors Land Institute (RLI) is now online.

We are an organization of land professionals from across our great state that is passionate about land. Alabama RLI membership is open to anyone who cares about land, specifically land brokers and agents, foresters, consultants, land lenders, attorneys, and surveyors.

Alabama RLI members are committed to providing the best service for our clients, investors, customers, and the general public in transactions related to rural and transitional land.

Please visit the site and stay up to date on what is happening in Alabama's rural land market.

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Safety Tips for Previewing Rural Land During Alabama’s Deer Hunting Season

Be safe in the woods during Alabama's deer hunting season.
Be safe in the woods during Alabama’s deer hunting season.

Alabama’s gun deer hunting season on privately-owned lands is scheduled to open shortly. If you are in the market for a rural property and plan on heading out to take a look at land during the winter months, it pays to exercise a few precautions to make your excursions safer and more successful.

Here are a few tips to follow when heading out to the winter-woods.

1. Schedule an Appointment. A “for sale” sign on a property does not constitute the right to enter a property: it is an announcement, not an invitation. You should call the landowner or listing agent before walking onto any rural property in Alabama. All listings with AlaLandCo are shown by appointment only.Calling first will help ensure that you do not surprise someone who is hunting, and will minimize the possibility of being shot by accident.

2. Wear Blaze Orange or other Bright Colors.The goal here is to be conspicuous. In the event there are others in the woods, you will be readily identifiable. November 20 to January 31 is a bad time to field test your new buckskin jacket on someone else’s land. Wear a blaze cap or better still an orange vest.

3. Stay with the Agent. Generally sticking with the agent will keep you within the boundaries of a property. Hunters may be using adjoining lands, so hanging close to your guide is a good idea. I don’t do much exploring of new ground during this time of year.

4. Keep it between 10 and 2. Your driver’s ed teacher hammered this home in highschool, so apply that same lesson to previewing hunting properties and timber tracts during deer season. Most hunters are in the woods early in the morning and mid-afternoon. Hunters often break for lunch and come out of the woods for a brief respite during the middle of the day. This is a good time to look at a property so as not to disturb a hunter who is in the stand. If you can’t visit a property in the middle of the day, try to avoid dawn and dusk situations. You can’t see the qualities of a property in low light conditions and a hunter isn’t able to discern what is moving down the trail as easily either.

If you will follow these tips you are more likely to be safe in the woods and also get more from your time previewing the land. If you are looking for a quality hunting property or recreational tract in West Alabama, please contact me to see how I can be helpful.

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