Boundary Line Maintenance
Establishing and maintaining property boundaries is a worthwhile process that can make other management activities easier to perform. When the boundaries of a property are well-marked and easily seen, it helps landowners, foresters, loggers, and anyone else working on the property or adjacent properties to ensure that work is confined to the intended area. Boundary line maintenance can be either be temporary or more permanent in nature, lasting from five to fifteen years.
The more temporary type of boundary line maintenance consists of flagging the property lines with brightly colored surveyors tape. Using a survey map and compass, a forester follows the bearings and distances recorded on the survey map to locate the survey points. If these markers can be found, the forester hangs survey tape along the compass line between the survey points, thus establishing the line and making it visible. (If the points can not be found, it is recommended that the land be surveyed by a licensed surveyor.) The flagging method typically lasts from five to ten years.
If a more permanent and obvious boundary marking method is desired, brushing, blazing, and painting is an effective and long-lasting approach. If the property has not recently been surveyed or if boundaries are not known, it is a good idea to flag the lines first. If property lines are already established, the line is ready to be maintained. First, all of the brush within 3 feet of either side of the boundary line should be cut back, which is known as brushing the line. Then, trees along and adjacent to the line should be “blazed,” or marked with an ax. Finally, the blazes are painted over with red boundary marking paint. Brushing, blazing, and painting allows the boundaries to readily be seen by anyone approaching. Well-maintained boundaries not only aid landowners, foresters, and loggers in restricting management activities to the intended property, they also guard against intentional or unintentional encroachment or trespass by adjacent owners.