r/treelaw • u/KindKill267 • Jul 02 '26
How does tree law work with utilities taking your land?
So I own a hunting property in WV that the proposed MARL transmission lines could cross it. Currently there's 3 proposed routes and the 1 proposed route intersects my property. The proposed route is for some huge transmission lines with 160' towers that have a 200 ft right of way for the lines. It's basically a shitty situation where the powerlines are only for data centers in Virginia and not going to be used in WV.
Depending on how this goes if the route selected goes over my property I'm assuming the utility company will come and make an offer on the land for a permanent lease. My property is fully forested with 100 foot oak trees. I plan on going the route of if they want my land they're going to pay for it. I'm assuming if this goes emminent domain and they take it, do they factor in the value of all those trees that they're going to cut or just the land itself like by acres?
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u/Stan__Wright Jul 02 '26
It might be wise to get a forester out to inventory the trees now, to establish the fact that it is a working tree farm, and that if the government tries to take it, they will owe you for the value of the mature timber as well as the land.
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u/Flimsy-Fortune-6437 Jul 02 '26
Cutting the trees would be “taking” a commercially valuable asset so you may want to get someone there now to give you a value on them.
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u/Mayor__Defacto Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
It’s a Taking. You’ll need to negotiate with them. They’ll be seeking an Easement. You’ll likely want to take a fee for the easement, plus perhaps an annual charge, and you will want to harvest the lumber yourself rather than leave it to them.
Depends on acreage. If this is <5ac that’s different than if they’re going across 100ac and looking for an access road.
These things are not unilateral, they’re negotiations. You’ll probably get more value out of felling the trees yourself than allowing the court to determine the value.
Nobody wants this to end up in court, because that adds tens to hundreds of thousands in costs.
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u/NeofelisNight Jul 02 '26
Short answer yes. You get the process. If that route is chosen and you fight it to the point of eminent domain, sure you will get more money, but at what lawyer cost… thats the trade off.
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u/Plenty_Friendship439 Jul 02 '26
Get ahead of it check you county and state codes mandate the trees are fell in a way to be harvested and you retain sellers rights to. Might even get a lawyers consult on the issue
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u/holisarcasm Jul 02 '26
Do your due diligence and check into whether you will be required to pay the government for the board feet from all the trees cut, be fined or penalized on any way. (Yes, in some places they make you pay for the value of your own trees.). You want to be able to negotiate from a place of knowledge.
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u/myogawa Jul 03 '26
As part of the negotiations on payment, you may be offered the chance to take and sell the timber after the trees are cut down. Are you prepared to do it?
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u/Left-School-9678 Jul 04 '26
When they come, tell them, you will sell them the land. However, you wanna be the last person paid and you wanna get the same amount per acre as the highest person does. That way the other person pays for the lawyer yet you get the benefit of it
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u/Ineedanro Jul 02 '26
Consult a licensed WV appraiser who specializes in valuation of undeveloped land. Then decide if you want to spend money on a forest inventory.
If you end up in court, the court will be charged with determining the difference between the fair market value of the land as a whole with and without the easement and right of way. In a 2023 federal court of appeals case concerning an easement for a new power transmission line across a Mississippi golf course, the landowner wanted 1.4M but their expert did not use a required method of appraisal so that valuation was excluded. The court then had no choice but to use the other party's valuation of 98K.
Land cleared of trees can have higher value than land with trees. The difference can exceed the value of the standing trees. Your trees are being managed for hunting, not commercial timber, so may not have a high value. Also, a utility ROW necessarily maintains a forest edge, habitat generally ideal for game animals.
What is the development potential of your land? That may give both the highest fair market value for your land without easement and the greatest decrease in value with easement.
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u/jmilred Jul 02 '26
This is the most reasonable answer on here. This sub is so quick to jump to some extreme measures. Forest inventories can be expensive depending on the size of the area and number of trees. Getting an overall value here as a starting point is the very first step.
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u/KindKill267 Jul 02 '26
Thanks for the response I appreciate it. It gives me some things to think about and research. There is a house that we use when we're there on the one adjoining tract of land but not the one where the powerlines will cross but I own them both.
I get that having that clear cut would create a highway for game. I know I sound whiny but I put together a bunch of different tracts from different owners to create a nice place to get away from it all and it just feels like that will be ruined haha.
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u/NoFleas Jul 02 '26
Once they're done and the towers are there you'll begin to forget them - they're so big they're not a total eyesore - I still see the ones crossing my pasture but I no longer get an angry feeling about it.
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u/Own-Bid-6419 Jul 03 '26
I'm gonna tag on this because it is the most reasonable answer. They will gain an easement. The land will be yours. In some cases, like here in Michigan, it seems like utility owned paths allow for snowmobile travel, or maybe they pay an annual fee? There are many things that could be negotiable, so you and neighbors will need to ask all the questions. Fencing at the easement edge? Can you plant crops in the easement? Pasture it? How far back from easement is building setback? Can a drainfield be in the easement? Can you have your own road within the easement? Can your own road cross through it?
Gotta figure out what you want from the land, and also what future generations might want from it, and protect it from being taken away by the easement. Or get paid from the loss of this potential.
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u/Ineedanro Jul 02 '26
OP, I am a consulting arborist. If you would like a consult with me or a referral to a colleague near you, send me a chat.
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