Involving Your Heirs by Rich Merk

Maine Woodland Owners is committed to helping small woodland owners develop succession plans so they can know their life’s work will be passed on to someone who will continue their stewardship efforts. Here’s another topic to stimulate landowner efforts to develop and improve their plans.

I’ve found the best way to involve people in our land is to get them onto it. Once they start walking the trails and seeing the beauty of the land and its resources their interests naturally evolve.

Our grandchildren love to make fairy houses in the hemlock stand and go see what is living in the back pond. They’re also learning the fun of discovering other resources in the woods and fields. Not only did they “discover” the back pond, but also the 60-foot windmill and spring that used to provide water for farming in earlier years. Now they’re spending more time learning about the creatures they find and see when they walk the trails. Since they live a distance from our tree farm, these events have more meaning.

Sometimes we tell about what’s going on while they are not there so they can have something new to look forward to when they visit again. I think with kids the opportunities for involvement are endless – from idle discovery to woods projects, games and even GPS competitions. The family’s interests in the land has become one more way we share our interests and heritage. Their interests in the land may become part of our succession plan.

Older people enjoy the trails and the woods, too. We can also initiate more discussion about what we are trying to do with the land as its stewards. If our children had an interest, we would share our management plan with them and discuss current and future plans of action. We would also arrange for them to meet our consulting forester and be involved in woods projects so they could establish a relationship.

Obviously, when there is more interest from your family about the land, you can develop a more comprehensive process to help them feel a part of the stewardship – current and future.