Forestry greenbelt questions

416wbymag · Jul 2, 2013

I have recently picked up 27 acres off airport rd in Rockwood. It was in a forestry green belt but with the change of ownership, I have 60 days to re-submit it. This includes having a forester come out and make a plan for the place.

1. Does anyone know if the TWRA WHIP program would cover the plan needed for submittal? I am going to try to reach them and check, I know it's late in the year for it, but it's worth a shot.

2. Does anyone know a forester in Morgan county area, or close by.

3. Does anyone know how much they normally charge?

Thanks for any information you might have. I am pretty new to all this

treefarmer · Jul 2, 2013

The greenbelt program is highly dependent on the county you are in. Some counties require little more than a single sheet of paper, while others require a formal written management plan. Contact the County assessor to ask what is required and if they have a template or a go-by sample for you. Even better if they will give you a copy of the previous owner's plan. You may be able to complete one yourself. A good one written by a forester may cost $500. If WHIP covers it I doubt there is time to get a request in for it. You may be able to request a delay in the 60 days. If you get a good management plan consider having one that is acceptable to the American Tree Farm System. Membership is free and will prove to the IRS and TN that you have a profit motive and you can get a sales tax-exempt certificate for seed, seedlings, fertilizer, chain saws, etc. For others with more time, the TN area forester will create one for free but they are busy so it takes a while.

PickettSFHunter · Jul 2, 2013

Morgan Co. required me to get a forest management plan. I used a real nice fella out of Wartburg. I think the plan was going to be $500 but I cant be sure because he didnt charge me for it since I used him to conduct a timber sale and he got commission on that. I dont know about WHIP because when I looked into it they wanted me to do things with my property management that just didnt make good sense, now Im glad I didnt because I dont want to be involved in that type of government program. Dan Summers is the forester I used.

@fulldraw · Jul 2, 2013

Check with the Division of Forestry's area forester for your county.

Bayou Buck · Jul 5, 2013

I was able to complete my own forestry plan in Perry County. I found a template online and went from there. Call the tax assessor and registrar of deeds and they will give you all the info you need.