The program can come in handy for hunters who are hunting Weyerhauser land. This is not a cheap sport in any sense, so paying to use land is not included in everyone’s hunting budget. Doing so will result in a reward from Weyerhaeuser in the form of a free or discounted access permit. The timber companies need to pay the state for practicing there spraying practices and sickening and killing off our wildlife. Environmentalist are always trying to restrict what the timber companies can do with their lands and when they do stupid stuff like this they loose one more voter who used to be on their side. Also,take away the spraying of there land with herb asides and go back to slash burning. Non-motorized access, to include on bicycles and on horseback, to all Weyerhaeuser land still requires a permit, but there is no limit on the number issued and the fee is either very small ($5-10), or free. I’m sure they were legitimately having a number of problems resulting from public access and this was their way of curbing prohibited activities. A recreational fee access permit program went into place, as it had successfully been in operation for decades in Weyerhauser’s southern timberlands. During the same time period, hunters pursuing elk and black bear, which were not nearly as popular to hunt on the Vail Tree Farm as deer, also slightly decreased. Hunt Type: Feel Free to Hunt. Additionally, pursuing legal action against trespassers and vandals may seem like it costs more money than it is worth in the short term. The reader must perform their own due diligence and use their own judgment in the selection of any professional. Full disclosure: I purchased a Vail Tree Farm access permit in 2014. For one thing, there are significantly more people looking for access on Weyerhaeuser land. From many of the grumblings that I hear, it seems like most of the miscreants causing trouble on the tree farm gain access through open gates for the simple reason that they can and the consequences for doing so are so minimal. Weyerhaeuser cannot keep everyone without a permit out: there are too many people trying to get in and the tree farms are too big. That’s what it costs in my home town. Gate it all, protect it, I will be happy to walk or bike in. “The fees allow for us to offset costs that are incurred as a result of allowing the public access to our property,” claims Anthony Chavez, Weyerhauser representative. We used to dog hunt on our club when I was a kid. then we sure can partition this! I know there are some cases where one guy got a permit, but his friend or extended family member did not. I have been a Washington resident my whole life and have enjoyed free hunting and access on Weyerhaeuser and Rayonier lands and so has my family for generations. If you are looking for recreation property in Lane County, Oregon, Weyerhaeuser Company has the 1,078.38 acre OR-Gate Ck lease available for silent bid. All gates will have some sort of surveillance (even something as simple and inexpensive as a trail camera) to ensure that everyone closes the gate behind them and identify anyone who leaves the gate open, cuts the lock, or bypasses the gate on an ATV. In the Pacific Northwest, winter arrives in many forms, whether on a snowcapped mountain top, or a misty overcast. They also prevent access to the wonderful wild trout fishery and great swimming on the upper Skookumchuck river. Weyerhaeuser recently started selling permits and leases on their Vail, Aberdeen, Pell El, and Longview Tree farms. For comparison, approximately 55% of 6.9 million people in the state of Washington live in the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia area while less than 10% of the population lives in and around Spokane. Please people, don’t ignore this. I for one plan to never buy a stick of their lumber products again and hope everyone else won’t either, no stronger message then hitting them in their own pocket book. The 6 month course will held on Mondays from 9:00AM – to noon. When purchasing a permit, permit holders either receive a key or the combination to the lock on all gates in their area, which change yearly. Nicely written! Weyerhaeuser Company (/ ˈ w ɛər h aʊ z ə r /) is an American timberland company which owns nearly 12,400,000 acres (19,400 sq mi; 50,000 km 2) of timberlands in the U.S. and manages an additional 14,000,000 acres (22,000 sq mi; 57,000 km 2) timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. in the long run it is all about money, and who makes the most will succeed. by the time you figure in the gas we spend. Faced with these issues, Weyerhaeuser decided to go with a “pay for use” program to help reduce the prevalence of the aforementioned problems and offset the costs associated with repairing/cleaning up them up. Prior to 2013, Weyerhauser allowed free access to this land, but due to an increase in vandalism and abuse, something had to be done to protect this treasure. They increased the price to $200, but allowed motorized access to the majority of tree farm to permit holders. when the PNW was opened up it was blocked out to prevent just this type of land Barron grabbing of land like back east. However, I have no connections with Weyerhaeuser other than that. Number one,these private timber companies do not own our wildlife,the people of our state do. Click on map to download larger version. With an area of approximately 159,000 acres, the Vail Tree Farm covers 249 square miles, which is slightly smaller than the island of Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands. One permit covers everyone in an immediate family, including children and grandchildren under the age of 18. not worth the time anymore. Hunters MUST APPLY BY MAY 15 for controlled hunts but have until June 1, 2015 to change As of early this week, Weyerhaeuser reported that it had sold all but one of the motorized permits and all but 46 non-motorized permits. Non-motorized access for the rest of the year remained free and did not require a permit. They also buy unproductive, or less productive, land from people … – Hear from some of the most audacious and[...]. I know that Soterra sometimes buys smaller pieces of property slowly with the belief that they will be able to get all in an area soon. Almost immediately, howls of outrage erupted from the members of the public, particularly hunters, who used to enjoy access to the Vail tree farm, but were unwilling or unable to obtain a permit in 2013. If Weyerhaeuser enacts policies that anger enough people for long enough, they are going to suffer the consequences of the inevitable backlash sooner or later. Aggregates We work independently and with industry partners to explore, evaluate and lease a variety of mineral commodities – including construction materials – on our more than 11 million acres in the United States. Under the new rules, 800 permits would be sold for the Vail Tree Farm. Even the rail lines and then the roads built were made with tax dollars in a round about way. It seems like that hunting becomes more and more of a rich man’s game as each year passes. Just for a moment, let’s focus on the Vail Tree Farm and ignore the 650,000+ acres of land encompassed by Weyerhaeuser’s other tree farms in Western Washington. Independence should also be a reward for proving you are an American and not a right for profit. Generally speaking, Weyerhaeuser also considered the Vail Tree Farm access permit experiment a success. Hi. Mi-HUNT Interactive Map. Well written, Weherhaeuser states trash dumping, vandalism etc as the reason for permit access. GoHunt is an application that has been developed by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. There is nothing wrong with requiring that certain types of recreational users purchase an access pass to enter the tree farm. No matter what precautions are taken, there are always going to be people that cause trouble. “People can hunt there they just need to make sure to look at Weyerhaeuser’s rules that are listed in the news release. All access permit holders will have the opportunity to gather reasonable quantities of firewood, berries, etc. They want to have their land patrolled, they better hire some security, I for one will lobby against any State Trooper being assigned to patrol any private property with limited or fee access. However, their existing security would become much more effective if they had 1,000-2,000 “volunteers” on the lookout for suspicious activity while they were in the woods hunting, fishing, or hiking. No permit is required for motorized or non-motorized transit through Weyerhaeuser land to access any publicly owned land located within the borders of Weyerhaeuser land. and now feel it has been taken from me. Weyerhaeuser Company is implementing a variety of access permits and/or leases. Weyerhaeuser DOES NOT mail anything to our Non-Motorized permit holders. Hunting should be the reward for proving you are an American through each ones conservation and not a right for profit. Make sure you follow The Big Game Hunting Blog on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Weyerhaeuser is concerned about protecting their most important investment: the trees. Any solution to the land access problem must address the problems Weyerhaeuser is facing. This money also pays so much per acre to the land owner for acreage that is open with free access. Especially if it meant a reward, such as a discount on their access permit, or some other perk, I’ll bet Weyerhaeuser could find a large number of people willing to pick up trash in the woods, or volunteer for some sort of “neighborhood watch.” Making effective use of engaged and motivated volunteers like this would significantly reduce the costs associated with patrolling and cleaning up their tree farms. But one of the biggest questions typically is—where to hunt? Obviously, hunters were the largest group adversely affected by this policy change. Ask Neuneker how often he likes to hunt and he’ll answer, “All day, every day. However, if regular people are put in a position where they have an incentive to take ownership of the rules in the tree farms, then they can prove to be a powerful asset. News and Updates. That’s $930,000! I’m not employed or affiliated with the company in any way. Weyerhaeuser Outdoor Recreational Leases - Arkansas-Oklahoma-Texas is not employed by or affiliated with the Land Conservation Assistance Network, and the Network does not certify or guarantee their services. No permit is required for motorized or non-motorized transit through Weyerhaeuser land to access any publicly owned land located within the borders of Weyerhaeuser land. I live in Nemah, Wa – an area that was once owned by Weyerhaeuser, but sold to Hancock. I think dealing with the dangerous law issues could be sticky, but I am sure there would be a way to safely handle that. After a few people get slapped with fines, or possibly even jail time for serious offenses, Weyerhaeuser will very likely see a sharp decline on the number of incidents that they have to deal with as people realize that it is not worth it to mess around on their land. I don’t know what these people pay the company for these types of permits but the truth is it is active and somebody is making a profit off of that land as for dumping it looks like these same people are doing the majority of the littering in the form of van seats and raw house hold garbage. Private Lands Hunting Access. I have picked up other peoples garbage and brought it home and disposed of it properly I am 54 years old and feel betrayed the timber company is getting tax breaks on land they say is not active but the truth is it is still being harvested in the form of brush and mushroom. Greed pure and simple. Mi-HUNT Interactive Map MiHUNT shows approximate boundaries of lands open to public hunting, including both public hunting land as well as private land open to the public for hunting. While I’m frustrated about the cost of an access permit, I don’t blame Weyerhaeuser for instituting the new system. 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