My wife and I own a small (~20 acres) tract of farmland on the edge of a town we used to live in. We bought it thinking we'd one day build a house there. It is vacant land currently. This was before we began our FIRE journey. We no longer live in that state. It's doubtful we will return in the near future, and if we did it's very unlikely we would proceed with building a house on the land as we already own a townhouse in the same town. FIRE has reduced the appeal of a single family home for us dramatically because we expect to be gone more than we're home.
This farm property has about 5 acres of woods bordering an adjacent development. We have liability exposure to about 14 homes where our trees could fall on their property. We've had two different property owners ask us to cut down trees along the property line over the last couple years. The community's lots are small (1/4 acre) so the homes are within 50 feet of so of our property line. That makes it very expensive to cut trees along the property line down. The stand of forest isn't in the best health.
We're considering having the woods clear cut. A licensed and insured logging company will take everything right up to the property line down for free, in exchange for the wood. We may be able to find someone to pay us a little something but I'm not too optimistic because it was select cut about 10 years ago. Eliminating the entire stand of trees would take care of our liability, and any chance of hassle from the neighbors while we're travelling over the next few years. The last thing we want is to deal with someone asking us to spend thousands of dollars cutting a tree down while we're not even in the country.
A small part of me wants to keep the woods for sentimental reasons. We had a vision for that property at one time, and the once in a lifetime story of how we came to own it doesn't help with my pragmatism, but that was long before FIRE and freedom has changed everything for us.
I'm leaning toward having the trees taken down. Perhaps we would replant some saplings. I'm certainly not looking for anyone to make my mind up for me but I'm interested in what my fellow Mustachians would say. Would you cut the woods down, or keep them?
I have a somewhat different response, though it depends on your financial status. If you are already FIREd or are well on the way, you might consider the following:
You are in a unique position to resist suburban expansion. If you are financially independent or close to it, you might consider getting a contractor to bid on clearing the trees on the perimeter only, to eliminate your liability risk. And then leave the majority of the land alone. Although many trees in there might be dying, your choice here will impact whether the land becomes yet another developed McMansion plot, or a small preserve of wooded land which will eventually regrow new trees. Maybe you could even donate it to become a park some day.
You can always change your mind and sell it later; the value of land in that area of the country is only increasing.
Whether or not this would be appeal to you depends on your personal preferences. The "inevitability of development" is entirely dependent on land owners (unless the govt intervenes, which seems unlikely).
I don't know what I would do in your shoes; I intend not to pressure you or imply any morals/ethics. I simply bring this up for consideration.