A clearly marked property boundary is one of the most important investments a landowner can make.  A well-marked boundary will prevent accidental trespass and, should intentional timber trespass occur, the offender may be subject to greatly increased penalties and damages if the property boundaries are clearly marked.

Surveying a large acreage can cost tens of thousands of dollars, yet this investment frequently only lasts a few years if lines are not maintained.  Regularly locating monuments and refreshing witness trees along property lines and corners with paint, signs, and flagging marks the property for others to see and also avoids costly re-surveying in the future.

While we are not licensed surveyors and, by law, cannot establish property corners, we can locate existing corners and then reinforce evidence of the lines between those points.  We typically refresh all old survey paint marks, paint old chops and then reference the boundaries facing the outside with either a double red stripe or the purple blaze as indicated by the recently passed Landowner Protection Act legislation.

The Landowner Protection Act allows landowners to mark their boundaries facing outside with purple paint to allow prosecution of trespassers who do not have a written card giving them permission to be on the property.  The purple paint is more permanent than posted signs, which deteriorate faster and can be more easily removed.

Additionally, we reference the line on the inside with a double orange stripe when we plan any harvest activity to prevent accidental trespass from our clients’ property onto a neighbor.  We always exclude all “line trees” from any harvest.