Private inholdings question

Six years ago I bought two connected lots (15 acres) in Western NH. One of the lots is within the National Forest Proclamation Boundary which runs right between the two.

The very faint red USFS blazes can be seen running through the woods across one lot. My house is on the lot within the NF boundary. The boundary can be plainly seen on the USGS Topo map of this area. My two lots straddle the line.

What are the implications of this, if any?

Did you have a lawyer do a title search when you bought it?

Hillwalker said:

Six years ago I bought two connected lots (15 acres) in Western NH. One of the lots is within the National Forest Proclamation Boundary which runs right between the two.

The very faint red USFS blazes can be seen running through the woods across one lot. My house is on the lot within the NF boundary. The boundary can be plainly seen on the USGS Topo map of this area. My two lots straddle the line.

What are the implications of this, if any?

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There are 2 issues here.

The Proclamation Boundary itself is relatively meaningless, all it means is that the Forest Service can buy land within that boundary without special approval from Congress which has the authority to designate National Forests. That was significant when the FS was buying lots of land from generic purchase accounts but now most every purchase has a specific act and are often outside the boundary.

However the blazes do not mark the Proclamation Boundary but rather the boundary of land that the Forest Service thinks it owns. If you think you own part of that land also there's a real problem. Your first step might be to check your town tax maps then talk to the Lands staffer in either the district office or forest hq which is your case are in the same new complex off exit 27 in Campton.

Let me know offline if I can help with this.

First, did you buy title insurance? (Yes, I'm sure you did.)

Second, did you not see these faint blazes runing across one lot when you bought it? I'm not following your account completely.

Third, I own land that borders the NF, and they really paint up those property boundaries, with rock cairns and all, at very close intervals, and post metal signs. It's LMT, leave maximum trace. "Very faint" painted blazes only marking USFS property doesn't sound quite right.

Yep

Waumbek said:

First, did you buy title insurance? (Yes, I'm sure you did.)

Second, did you not see these faint blazes runing across one lot when you bought it? I'm not following your account completely.

Third, I own land that borders the NF, and they really paint up those property boundaries, with rock cairns and all, at very close intervals, and post metal signs. It's LMT, leave maximum trace. "Very faint" painted blazes only marking USFS property doesn't sound quite right.

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Title insurance, you bet. Title search, you bet.

The paint markings are extremely faint I have been involved in re-painting the blazes on the AT Corridor for several years now and am used to locating faint blazes. My guess is that they are at least twenty years old, but do follow the outline of the Declaration Boundary as seen on the 1995 Warren, NH Quad. That particular Quad shows that this portion of the WMNF, is almost 50% Private Inholdings. In my work on the AT Corridor I have seen the boundary markings on the parts that are not inholdings, and they are very well blazed and have the brass monuments plus stake and stones. My guess that in the case of my faint blazes; before the Proclamation Boundary was made official someone came through with a spray tank and outlined the possible boundaries and that is what the referenced quad shows.

My next question is: What are "USFS Forest Legacy Lands"?

Do the faint USFS blazes you mentioned have a hack above and below the primary blaze? I know you are familiar with blazing, but I thought I would check. If there are no hacks, they may just be the blazes marking the lines between the two lots.

If they are USFS blazes, it doesn't take long for them to fade. My company marked many lines back in the 90's that we have recently traversed, and many look like they have had any maintenance since then.

You may need to hire a surveyor and/or lawyer to look into the issue, especially where your house is on the lot in question.

Hillwalker said:

The very faint red USFS blazes can be seen running through the woods across one lot. My house is on the lot within the NF boundary. The boundary can be plainly seen on the USGS Topo map of this area. My two lots straddle the line.

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Did you mean in the middle of one lot rather than between the lots, it would be unusual to have a boundary there?

KT may correct me on this but I don't believe the Proclamation Boundary was ever blazed, as some sections would be on private land that the FS might never buy.

Waumbek said:

Third, I own land that borders the NF, and they really paint up those property boundaries, with rock cairns and all, at very close intervals, and post metal signs. It's LMT, leave maximum trace. "Very faint" painted blazes only marking USFS property doesn't sound quite right.

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The FS has hundreds of miles of boundary and how obvious they are depends on when in the reblazing cycle you are.

While the FS uses red paint so do others, it might be a good idea to follow the blazes to a corner and see if there is a marker that gives the name of the owner or surveyor.