grrrrr ... so very angry!!!

I was not doubting your claims. I just like to know the facts not the supposition.

Sounds like you have a good case for loss of income.

That is probably going to be a reocurring problem over the years as VDOT staff changes. Around here the DOT puts out no mowing signs. Maybe you can do something like that 20' off the road centerline. Ask the supervisor if they can furnish the signs.

NO VDOT MOWING
BEYOND THIS
POINT!

Fence, fence, fence and no spray signs. Signs are usually ignored. The only way to protect your property from unwanted trespassers is with a fence. (actually a tiger trap would be better but unfortunately not legal) Insist that VDOT pay for the fence so their employees can't do you any more "favors".

I can understand that situation, we run into it with 'wetlands' regulations. There are many, many rules on wetlands here in the upper midwest, and the rules are not applied evenly. If you've been farming the wetlands, one set of rules, if you let it grow to grass then a different set of rules, but prhaps the grassy patch is better drier land than the farmed patch, and the grass was made for hay every year (harvested, actively farmed...) while the farmed (tilled) ground produced poor or no actual crop much of the time... In short, the farmed land is lousy, the grassy land is not much wet but just good hay.

No matter, the grassy patch is viewed as already belonging to the State & you can't touch it as wetlands, while the 'farmed' patch they will pay you to take out of production, or allow you to drain it to make it good farmland, or whatever.

Same sort of deal, it's how one uses it, not who planted it.....


If you have good paperwork you can set up a case of what the produce from these plants brought you, and how long it will take to re-establish the crop (trees take so long to grow into productive plants, you lost more than one year...) and so on.

However, if you were running under the radar & not claiming income tax and such on your produce, that will open up a new can of worms for 'proving' your income from those plants.

But if you got the bookwork to back yourself up, put it all together & say I'm losing $1000 a year per these trees and will take 4 years until new plants become productive, and losing $150 a year for these trees and will take 6 years before new become productive, etc.

Submit your claim for what you can prove you will be losing, and have paperwork to show you _really did make_ that kind of money per plant in past years, and you have a good chance of the supervisor meeting you 1/2 way anyhow - or some resonable actual offer.

Unfortunately, their screwup but typically you only get met 1/2 way. How the world works.

General discussions & saying this & that to underlings will not get too far - looks like you just want to try to make some mony off the situation.... Putting it in black & white with some reciepts to back you up will get their attention, make you look like a serious person who is calmly but actively looking to be compensated for actual loses, and does get some results.

I suspect this will be difficult if you are the typical homesteader without much reciepts of what you are doing, but is where it is at.

--->Paul

At least within TN they have something similar to conservation easement to where you receive a couple of buck per acre to not plant withiin X number of feet from a permanent boundry. It is OK to bushhog it, but not to harvest for hay.

Our last government was trying to get a program going to where waste crops (e.g., wheat and corn stalks) were baled and then taken to a bio-fuel plant. Of course, the government wouldn't pay you for what you produced, not guarantee you a price when sold.

Other than some make-work jobs at state ag. colleges, not much as doen beside a lot of lip service

Too late to help this year, but in my area everyone puts up stakes & signs along the edge "No Cut-Ins" "No Spraying". Seems to work.

Well, this morning I called to speak with VDOT's "Regional Supervisor" for our area. I was only able to talk with a lady in Customer Service, who wanted to understand the situation I was dealing with. After I had explained it all to her, she told me the Regional Supervisor's name and stated she would give him our phone number and e-mail address as I had requested he come out to our place to see what had occurred and talk with us face to face. Here it is 6 hrs later and no one has called, emailed nor come.

We really are not interested in making money off this incident. What we do want is for it to stop. We planted Ginko trees not too far from what they destroyed and we were nurturing our pawpaw trees and the Staghorn Sumac grove. We had not done anything with the sumac because we were researching it; then just as we thought we could do something this year, they come and destroy it.

As it stands, we cannot plan on developing anything at the front of our property when it gets mowed down every few years. I am still hoping the Regional Supervisor will come out and help us find a way to stop the destruction in an amicable way.

__________________
I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

I just set my posts this morning. I had some in last year around some fruit trees I am growing near the ROW, I know this is risky business, but the spot just screams for a few trees. Anyway, this past winter they we putting in a new water line, so I pulled my posts, dug up my trees and put them in pots until they were done. Replanted this spring but had neglected to re-set my posts . Saw them mowing on my way to work and asked my wife to go out and set a couple posts, she didn't (pretended she didn't hear me/forgot) and they mowed them off. (I controlled my self real well (because it really was my fault)and all is well in married land) Luckily the stumps were high and the rootstock was strong, and they are resprouting already, it is amazing how fast a strong root stock can regenerate, albeit it will need some pruning to get a good shape again. All is not lost.

__________________
http://www.lindsayfarmonsilvercreek.blogspot.com/

It's called the right of way and you are wrong. It's not your property to nurture, plant, fence or anything. It belongs to the state, county, and commonwealth. Not you. Get over it cause they will mow it down everytime. You won't win this one. If the trees were inside your fenceline, not in the right of way, you would have a leg to stand on....

__________________
Be a fountain, not a drain!

^()^
http://tubbsfarmstead.com/

She already stated they weren't in the right of way.

Wow. Did someone hack your account? Your name and your post are so terribly opposite.

BTW - the area mowed was NOT in the ROW.

__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. That was a real shame & I sure hope you are compensated for it. I know how I would feel and I'd be

Where I live, property owners put up signs. I don't know if it helps, or not. In addition, I have seen fences to make it clear where the easement ended and the rest of the property started. I'd put up a fence as all that was valuable and should be protected.

The only easement we have is a utility easement for our electricity. Otherwise, no other easements as we are down a long private driveway. Reading this makes me appreciate our property even more and I feel relieved all my hard work won't be destroyed like theirs was. It makes me a bit sick to my stomach thinking about it.

__________________

Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

It rather sounds like they are sending your 'the bug letter', just in person. Perhaps your
one and only chance to go on-on-one with the 'biggies'.

Be VERY nice, explian why it was a fuit crop to you how it wa destroyed and how long it will take you to comeback to the same proint.

I still say, put steel T-posts around them.

Not at all if you read it as "I love rules"

Two VDOT people arrived this afternoon. One was the area supervisor who had come before & the other was the "assistant" to the regional supervisor I had not been able to talk with. The assistant apologized for what VDOT had done and listened politely to our telling him of the Staghorn Sumac being a possible source for additional income for us via extracts made from its flower heads. Still, he reiterated what the other had said, i.e. VDOT would not compensate us for the loss.

The only agreement I could get from this man was for the other man with him to make sure:

1. People would come out and clean up the mess they left (Some of the sumac were over 10 ft tall and their mower could not chop them up.).

2. He would come out and put up markers to clearly state where the outside of the right-of-way came to.

3. No one would ever mow our things down again.

I let them know I had heard #3 before and that my trust in VDOT was not good. I let them know even the "clean-up people" were not to touch anything without either my son or I present and watching. (When they arrive to do the job, they are to sit on their horn until one of us got out there to monitor what they do.) I let them know I wanted the "markers" up so I could "legally" put up my own fencing. David let them know he was still taking pictures of the large stumps they left and will keep his options open as to how to deal with the loss of this sumac.

All I want is for it to be over! David feels the loss more than I as it is he who was counting on the sumac to subsidize our income by making extract; so I'm not sure what he will wind up doing. Whatever it is, I will support him!

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

I'm so sorry you're going through this!

Of course, you already know to document, document, document. If you have to get an attorney, you'll need names, dates, and such.

Prayers for resolution and restitution!

__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice

http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/

I live in Virginia not far from you and have had mowing done on my property also - 30 to 50 feet onto the property after the ROW stops. For us it is not a problem as this is just grass/weeds but they still shouldn't be there. If we are ever able to turn this into a hay field, I will have to put up signs or a fence.

The problem with Vdot is that as personnel changes you may have problems in the future. Also, a lot of mowing in the state is done by non VDOT employees. When the mowing contract is awarded to a new company will they be made aware of your particular property and issues? Probably not.

I think you are correct that your best bet is a fence. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate - T-posts with two strands of bare wire should be enough. Maybe a Keep Out or No Trespassing sign every 3rd or 4th post also. Just something simple to designate where the ROW ends and your property begins.

When Vdot comes out to mark the ROW , I would also take pictures of the markers so that in years to come someone can't say you put the fence in the wrong place.

Angela

County Roads here are 15'from the center--old roads are 12'-yup, these county roads ARE narrow, but I checked

__________________
In Life, We Weep at the thought of Death'
Who Knows, Perhaps in Death,
We Weep at the though of Life.

Yes, we are definately going to take pictures of the ROW markers (and our fencing).

Thank you all for your help and supportive comments.

__________________
I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com

Right of ways for state highways are different across the nation. In WV paved rural roads are typically 20' from the center line (40' R/W). One local highway is 30' from the center line because it was a turnpike (toll road) back in the 1800s. Today the old turnpike isn't any wider than the roads with a 40' R/W. Lots of folks along that highway have sheds and even porches on state property. The state knows about the incursions but doesn't have a need for the extra R/W. When they do ...