Tracy, maybe you could stick a sign out there for someone to call you?   Ooh, a sunflower garden would be beautiful with beautiful trees mixed in!   

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A tree farm would be awesome!  I would be happy if it was that or something beautiful like a sunflower farm.   But I know that that isn't very likely.   Not many farms like that around here....I do live in the "garden state", and in most of my drives I see vegetable farms, and a few fruit farms.  Ironically, decades ago, it did use to be a dahlia flower farm, as far as the eye could see.  Although vegetable/fruit farm would be cool, certainly beats condos!  Wish I could see who the owners are, I don't see them around there much anymore, they seem to show up while I'm at work and are gone by the time I get home.  Real interested to see what they are growing!  Will keep you all informed, definitely!  

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I dreaded asking you for a loooooong time about the horse farm, Tracy for fear of what I would hear!   But now it seems that even though it is not the best of news (that the horse farm would be rebuilt and all the trees left standing) it is far from being bad news!   I hate that your poor cherry tree was cut down, but as you said, the storm mostly destroyed it.  AND there are lots of trees left standing still, which is GOOD!  Wouldn't it be great if it would become a TREE FARM????   If you ever see the owner's maybe you could go over and talk to them and see what's going on (and maybe find out some really good stuff) and even mention to them that it would be so wonderful if they could plant more trees on the outskirts of the 'farm' for the birds and squirrels.  I feel so much better after reading your 'update'.  Please keep us informed of future goings on. 

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UPDATE!!

I've been watching some activity going on across the street from me at the old abandoned horse farm.  There is some sad news....although I haven't ventured back there (don't want to get arrested for trespassing).....there are some areas I can see from certain vantage points.  And I know that my favorite old cherry tree has been cut down and apart. It was greatly damaged in a storm, and I guess they felt they couldn't save it, whomever it is that is doing work over there.  They also took down alot of trees, as I can see cars going by on the street farther away, and I couldn't before.   I mourn for the trees they took down, I hate seeing any woodland removed. 

However..........with that said, I have a bit of positive news to share with you all.  Heard a motor noise the other day, and my first thought was, UGH here come the bulldozers.   Looked out the window and saw nothing but brown dirt.  Thought they were scraping up the topsoil.  But instead, I noticed not bulldozers....but a huge John Deere tractor instead.  And it wasn't plowing topsoil, it was turning over the dirt.....and I realized, they are going to farm the pastureland, not build condos on it by the looks of things!!  Now don't get me wrong, I would love nothing better than for the land and building to be restored back to what it was and leave all the woodland untouched.  But in the grand scheme of things, it seems inevitable that they are going to do something with that land, and if I had to choose between hundreds of ugly condos or a farm land, I'll take farm land any day.   Not sure what they are growing over there, but I did see them plant something the other day.  And the good news is, they still left alot of woodland still standing.   I'll keep you all up to date on what happens.

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Julie, I feel exactly as you do!  Kudos to you for buying a property where you could keep/plant more trees.   We need more people like you!

Must give an update on the situation of this topic.....although nothing major has started, a flatbed truck arrived several days ago and dropped off a bulldozer out of view.   I fear they may be about to start working on the place, if they haven't already out of sight of where I can see.

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Itis so sad and disgusting how humans just chop down trees like they were nothing. My husband and I are very much tree lovers. we have planted lots of trees on our property. I plant trees instead of flowers!!

We just bought 2.5 acres of land in TN are moving there this summer. It is all trees and we have had only a small area for our homesite cleared. And only the trees that were small and nessary to be able to put in a well and septic. Having trees on your property is not only helping the enviroment and animals, but it adds beauty, and shade and warmth to your house and property. I get so angry when I see land being cleared of trees for building new homes. Alot of the trees could be saved and built around if people just cared enough to save the trees.

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Such great ideas flowing in, thanks Martin and Andrea! No idea is too out there, anything we can come up with is worth a try!  I've never read those books Andrea, if you find anything, let me know?  We aren't really near the pine barrens unfortunately where this land is located....too much in the city for that.   The organization you mentioned Martin, I think that is the one I was trying to think of earlier...thanks!  If we did have to start a grassroots effort, I wonder how I could get that going?  I mean, a million dollars (at least!) is alot to raise by donations alone.   I will keep you guys posted...thanks for all your help!

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Okay - here is a REALLY wild one.  I have this book from Matthew Lesko - I do not know if you have ever seen his commercials, the guy with the question mark suit - on how to get all kinds of money from the govt. and private rich people looking for tax write-offs, and maybe there is something in there that might help you.  I will look through it, or maybe you can find it in your library. 

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Or, I was thinking earlier (at therapy when I should have been focusing on other things ha ha ), do you have any colleges or universities near you that have a forestry dept., or even like a wildlife management or biodiversity dept. or majors?  They have money up the ying-yang, and they might be willing to invest in that because they would be able to use for all of their students in those courses for like their field work and studies and stuff.  Hope I do not sound stupid here, I am just trying to think of who you could get some $$$ backing from.  Kind of just sounding off I guess. 

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Are you anywhere near the Pines?  What about the people who manage that?  Maybe they can help...

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I should give Nature Conservancy a try, send them an email or letter....maybe they could help!   Never heard of Metroparks where I live..(I live in southern NJ)..but it could be here, you never know, I'll have to do some research on that one.   Thanks so much Andrea!

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Do you have Metroparks where you live?  I do not know if that is an Ohio thing or a nationwide thing, but if you have them, maybe they would be interested in getting in on this also.

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What about The Nature Conservancy?  I know they have several properties around where I live, and none of them are real big, well, to me they are, but I think in terms of major foundations or whatever, not so much.  But it seems to me, at least around here, they have quite a few smaller parcels of land in pretty much random places.  Kind of like they just bought stuff up to keep it from being developed...and I do not think any of it has anything endangered on it, just more it seems to keep it pristine and natural.  Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out.

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56 Acres.....but it is sure to be real expensive...it is a piece of prime real estate, located on a main street of my city.  Probably well over a million dollars easly for the land alone.  Finding alot of people who would care enough to do that sort of thing would be the tricky part.....I never know how to get the ball rolling on that sort of thing. That is of course, assuming the property is still in fact for sale.   Thanks for the idea Andrea....if I could find a way to make it work....maybe I can try this organization again that I wrote months ago that buys up land like that....I need to remember the name!   Unfortunately though, alot of organizations deem 56 acres too small to bother with....they often deal on larger scale projects....100's of acres at a time.

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How big is the land, Tracy?  Is it something you maybe could get your community involved, like to buy the land for the town in some kind of way where everyone contributed some, and then you all would kind of own a piece of it or something?  I do not know - I probably sound stupid....just trying to think of ideas....

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UPDATE!!

Yesterday, two guys appeared in a van, and posted the FOR SALE sign again!   I don't know if that means that because the builder ran into so many snafus that he just put the land back up for sale again, or if it is a ploy to get you to call and ask about it, and have them tell you it is still under contract....but they have some other land for sale.  OH how I wish I had the funds to buy that whole piece of land myself!!

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Tracy, I always hate to ask how it's going....afraid of the answer I might get.   Gee, I pray so hard that the trees will not be cut and maybe they will create an animal haven of some sort.  I know most of that is 'wishful thinking' but PRAYER DOES HELP!!   Keep us updated, my friend and let's continue to pray!

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You did all you could, Tracy, to save the land and it's residents from being killed.  The newly poured concrete serves as a gravestone for the beauty that was murdered. 

You, my dear friend, are a champion of all things green and  living.  Sadly, others favor money, convenience.  Such is the state of our world.

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Just posting an update.....

Ironically, nothing more has been done to the place other than putting in those pipes near the front curbing.    They actually repaired the white fencing in the front....which is strange.....I am real glad to see that they haven't started demolishing anything or building yet.  One dogwood was lost in the front...they removed it to put a pipe in.    But other than that, no other trees have been harmed as of yet.  I am not sure what is going on with the plans now...but I am just glad that they haven't started yet.

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I can only imagine the feeling, Tracy.   Like you are looking at an old friend for the last time.  Very heartbreaking indeed!   Maybe, just maybe this contractor has reserved a lot of old trees in his plans instead of chopping them down.   Let's all continue to pray that this will happen!!!  

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 the street, on what was once beautiful green pastures and woodland at one time.  That has been my view for about 20 years, and I am really gonna miss it.

Yes, please do take pics of your land and the field too! Maybe if more people see these pics, they will be more inclined to preserve the green spaces!

I am going to take one last walk over there today while the workers are still off, and take my last pics of what was once a sight to behold.

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My Redwood Acres cause topic was getting a bit lengthy, so I decided to open another topic to continue the conversation.  Here are the most recent posts, starting with the most recent development..... so that we won't lose track of what is being discussed.  For more details of what this topic is all about, please see the link below:

 http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=4119&pst=167032&reply=1#786385

Tracy B.
 I came home from work yesterday to find............ Friday, 9:21 PM

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