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An Open Letter To Bob Crane The Tree Guy by Bill Roberts

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate DRE 00527512


An open letter to Bob Crane The Tree Guy

Hi Bob,
We have an interest in-common - TREES.

Since you are a Silviculturist, a Forestry Manager, and an all around

tree guy and I am a great believer in trees as the salvation of our

generation, I wanted to get some things off my chest and ask a few

pertainent questions while I'm at it.

I do not believe that bigger is necessarily better. I do believe that small

is beautiful. And I believe in the Individual over the Collective.

So how does this apply to me and you and trees?

Recently, you lamanted the loss of some "forests" to a sub-divider that

wanted to sell small plots WITH TREES to individuals. You said it

would be better to keep the forests intact so they could be managed.
I don't know if you meant that the individuals couldn't manage their

trees or you were just bemoaning the loss of business.

Thinking

Well, your position got me thinking.

We have this thing in real estate called a Planned Unit Development or

PUD for short. It is kind of like a condominium, in that the whole is

managed by an association of owners, while the individual units are

enjoyed by the individual owners.

The 1000 Acre Woods

It seems to me that a forest of about 1000 acres (approximately a

section and a half) would be a good size for you to manage, while a 5

-10 acre parcel within the forest would make a nice cabin get-a-way

site for the individual owner.

Makes Sense

Would that make sense to you?
The access roads could double as game trails, and a few thousand

square foot cabin site wouldn't harm the forest very much, if at all.
Isn't this the best of both worlds?
The HOA could hire you to manage the forest for the benefit of all, the

HOA would manitain the trails (access roads), and they could even own

a portable saw mill so that the owners could build their cabins using

their own trees.

So, how about it? Can we do this?


BTW, I am writing a book for Baby Boomer Retirement Planning

tentatively called "Who Says Money Doesn't Grow On Trees?"
Like I said, trees can be the salvation of our generation. Trees for wood, pulp, or fiber, Trees for nuts and fruits. Trees for ornamentation and landscaping. Trees.

The management of trees, and inter-cropping can produce tremendous profits from a renewable resource that never needs to go away. Trees.

Posted by

Please comment. All comments are greatly appreciated.

Bill Roberts

 

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Show All Comments
Lou Ludwig
Ludwig & Associates - Boca Raton, FL
Designations Earned CRB, CRS, CIPS, GRI, SRES, TRC

Bill

George Souto makes a great point . . . . . Difference people have difference points of view . . . . With a master planned communities the parties have to come together to develop the master plan.

Good luck and success.

Lou Ludwig

Apr 30, 2015 12:11 PM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Lou, Actually it is ALL up to the developer. If he miscalculates, then he loses, but  if he gets it right, then it happens. Nothing has to appeal to everybody, just to the few that might want to participate.

Bill Roberts

Apr 30, 2015 01:00 PM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Hi Bill, thanks for sending the open letter, I apologize for the short response this morning, just had a moment to glance at it during a breakfast meeting.

I do have a lot of thoughts on this and have seen similar projects happen in the past, some as forest coops, some as large family ownerships, many as groups of hunters (sportsman clubs), and even some who set it up as an investment partnership.

My patience for the time wasted by committees is low, so I will never get involved in an HOA, but I do work with groups who own forestland from time time to time.  It is a challenge, especially if too many type A's are involved and there have been a few that I walked away from when it was clear that decisions would never be made and time would continue to be wasted.

I could probably go on far too long, on this topic, but it has been a very long day and another long day is coming soon.

One of these days when I have good phone coverage I will give you a call and we can talk.

Thanks Bob

Apr 30, 2015 01:11 PM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Hi Bob, I guess I shouldn't have blind-sided you, but the thoughts kept bubbling up. I know that this could happen.

I appreciate that you've had bad experiences with groups in the past, but unless you take ownership in the project, you should be immune from the workings of any committees.

I came up with the idea when you mentioned that when a developer sub-divides a forest, it can no longer be managed. Well, I think that forest management is key to getting the best returns from the trees, and it is the best way to guarantee that the forest survives.

Thanks for coming back. I look forward to talking with you.

Bill Roberts

May 01, 2015 12:10 AM
Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

What fun engaging Bob Crane in this discussion on forest management. There has to be balanced of course and when you build around the trees you impress the buyers. I know you have to be very careful and lose some valuable land but so be it.

May 01, 2015 01:16 AM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Hi Debbie, Thanks for stopping by. With all the trees you have in TN you could do the same thing.

Bill Roberts

May 01, 2015 01:29 AM
Lou Ludwig
Ludwig & Associates - Boca Raton, FL
Designations Earned CRB, CRS, CIPS, GRI, SRES, TRC

Bill

I would like to thanks Bob Crane for sharing his thoughts.

Good luck and success.

Lou Ludwig

May 01, 2015 07:54 AM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

 Lou, I thank Bob Crane also. He knows trees.

Bill Roberts

May 02, 2015 01:30 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

What I learned

May 02, 2015 01:25 PM
Sarah Cole
Strategic Digital Marketing Consultant - http://www.coleconnectmarketing.com - Tully, NY
Strategic Social Media Consultant

Very interesting.  We have about 13 acres with 10 of those wooded.  Hmmm . . . Kidding!  We like our woods and it is a hunt-free zone or rather, we try to keep it that way. May allow our son to build on the property one day, but that's the extent of it. 

May 02, 2015 10:27 PM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Kathy, Thank you very much for the mention.

Bill Roberts

May 03, 2015 12:28 AM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Sarah, I am envious of your trees. Thank you for stopping by.

Bill Roberts

May 03, 2015 12:29 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

It's great that Kathy shared this.  I think it's wonderful how the subject is being handled. Something amazing could come from this type of communication!

May 03, 2015 05:13 AM
Grant Schneider
Performance Development Strategies - Armonk, NY
Your Coach Helping You Create Successful Outcomes

Bill - very interesting new concept and who says it can't work.  Maybe you and Bob can come up with a plan.

May 03, 2015 09:42 AM
Gayle Rich-Boxman Fishhawk Lake Real Estate
John L Scott Market Center - Birkenfeld, OR
"Your Local Expert!" 503-739-3843

What Bob had to say is true and thanks to Kathy Streib I was able to see your take on this, Bill. Win-win? Compromise? Not sure. I live in a thriving logging community. I realize that thinning is healthy, but any tree coming down makes me a bit sad. That's just me, though. I am a tree-hugger from way back!!(Even wrote a post about it...link to it is here).

May 03, 2015 02:02 PM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Sharon, Thank you very much. We'll see what happens.

Bill Roberts

May 03, 2015 10:57 PM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Grant, You never know until you try.

Bill Roberts

May 03, 2015 10:59 PM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Gayle, Don't think about the individual trees, think about the forest. The objective is have a thriving forest that "produces" forever.

Bill Roberts

May 03, 2015 11:02 PM
Geoff McPherson
San Francisco Home Inspector

Everyone has their opinions!

Geoff McPherson- San Francisco Home Inspector 

May 17, 2015 06:22 AM
Bill Roberts
Brooks and Dunphy Real Estate - Oceanside, CA
"Baby Boomer" Retirement Planner

Geoff, Everyone except you it seems.

Bill Roberts

May 17, 2015 11:57 PM
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