High resolution LiDAR digital elevation models are a fantastic tool for exploring land and finding…

  • Old dump sites
  • Old mines
  • Old roads
  • Old stone walls
  • Cuts and fills of any sort on the land

 Hillshade Of South Mountain

I would definitely use such hillshade data when considering to buy a piece of land, to get a better idea of what its like then what just an aerial photo or map shows. LiDAR see through trees and bushes, it gives a lot more information then you might get without a very detailed survey of a property.

Download NYS High Resolution LiDAR data.

Landowner, not a homeowner

Eventually, I plan to become a landowner more then a homeowner. Land not just a place to have a home on, but land where I can call my own, use for my own purposes, study nature and wildlife, hunt and trap on. Public lands are a fantastic resource, but they aren’t really my own even though I temporarily occupy the lands.

As a landowner you become responsible not just for your home, but also maintaining the land to maximize habitat and value to you. There are many ways to use land, farming, firewood, timber, hunt, trap, and so forth. Careful methods of use can maximize both the value of the land to you and wildlife that lives on it.

Land is more important to me then any kind of home I would have on it. I don’t want to chop down the forest or develop it more, I’d much rather take an adapt an existing structure, and use as much of the land that I own for natural purposes β€” be it agriculture or forest property. I would like to meet as much of needs on-site as possible, from renewable energy to food, to an live with as small of an externalized impact as possible.

Cabin