Landowner Profiles

John & Pauline Applin

Mason Township, ME

Property Statistics:

How much land do you own? About 65 acres

Where is it located? Mason Twp., Oxford County

Do you live on the property? Yes

When did you acquire it/how long have you owned it ? We purchased the land in 1970 and built in 1976.

Do you post your land? Why/why not? We do not post our property, although we have let it be known that we do not want any mechanized vehicles on the property. We are comfortable with any pedestrian activities, such as, hunting, fishing, trapping, snow shoeing, etc.

What is the breakdown of cover types (forest, meadow, agriculture, wetland)? It is primarily a white pine plantation with 4 or 5 acres of swamp. There is also a major stream, the Pleasant River , running through and bordering the property.

Ownership Objectives:

What are your reasons for owning your forest? Your objectives for management? We purchased the property as both an investment and future home site.

Do you have a forest management plan? If so, does it include recreation? Yes, we have a management plan. However, it does not contain an explicit recreation piece.

Recreation:

What types of recreation do you allow on your land? Essentially anything that can be done on foot and does not damage the land or trees.

Why do you allow recreation? In our area, large tracts have been posted already to all recreation. We believe that to be counter intuitive to good management practices. Some harvesting needs to be allowed or you're soon overrun by some types of animals, in particular beaver.

Who recreates on your land? What is your perception of those who recreate on your land? Most people are local neighbors. For the most part they have not been a problem. Many ask before using the property.

What problems have you experienced with recreation impacts or recreationists, and how have you worked to solve those problems? A couple of times early on I found trash that had obviously been left by people riding, hence, no vehicles.

Support:

What support would you as a private landowner who allows recreation on your forestland like to see from various University/Government entities, and NGOs? Follow up question – if we were to create a website, what information would be useful to you?

At this time, I'm not sure