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So, I don't think being close to public land is a good thing. I have lived both adjacent to, and near public land in the past, but times are different. People are already squatting on public lands in greater numbers because they have nowhere else to go; and greater restrictions are being adopted as a result, and I think ND was one of the first places I read about this. How long before they are dealt with in aggressive ways if you know what I mean. I don't want those state or fed entities defending the lands in my backyard either.
Yes, that's one thing that I've been keeping a very close watch on in ND. With the oil boom going on, there are lots of people with very little housing. Fortunately for me, I chose the eastern part of the state (for other reasons) and the big oil boom is in the western part of the state.
Probably the biggest reason I'm leaving Utah is the overpopulation problem (at least in the area I live and in my opinion). I watched it happen over the course of my lifetime from when I moved here with my family (as a kid) to a little farm practically in the middle of nowhere... to what is now a major metro area. I just hope that the same sort of thing won't happen in ND with the big oil and big money coming in. I'm banking that the extremely low population in the state and the fact that most all the real "boomtown" activity is in the western portion of ND will keep the northeast corner the relatively "sleepy" little farming area it is until well after I'm dead and gone.
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Originally Posted by scarlet_ohara
Chances are your own land would already have wild edibles on it, or would come back if you allow some of it to return to its natural state. You can also gather some and get them started on your land, those that are suitable for your particular habitat.
Yes, that is certainly the best way to go about it. You also get familiar with the plants over the course of years and there is little chance of misidentification. Although not my own land, I do that here to an extent, because I concentrate on a relatively small area of public land in my favorite area every year. You kind of get to know each fruit tree, berry bush, thicket of oak and which years there will be good acorn production, and even the types of greens that grow along the creek. I'll certainly be looking for areas like that in ND, but I also plan to let at least some of my own land produce the same sorts of plants, because many are very common all over the US and will grow fine there as well. Just a matter of getting them started if they aren't already there.
Last edited by ChrisC; 08-19-2012 at 02:29 PM..
Reason: grammar idiocy
As far as restrictions and regulations on foraging in the Northeast, It is not like there is a Ranger behind every tree. There is so much untended edgeland in that region that you could support yourself scavenging wild plants and seafood in the Bronx and no one would lift an eyebrow. Well, people might think you were weird, but...
Now, hunting on random land is another matter, gunfire brings attention, but there is plenty of good hunting land in the Northeast and the place is overpopulated with game animals. I know someone who regularly poached deer with bow in Yonkers which is 10-15 miles from midtown Manhattan. Good White Oak fed venison from America's largest metro area :-)
As far as restrictions and regulations on foraging in the Northeast, It is not like there is a Ranger behind every tree. There is so much untended edgeland in that region that you could support yourself scavenging wild plants and seafood in the Bronx and no one would lift an eyebrow. Well, people might think you were weird, but...
It seems when people talk of self-sufficiency it's almost exclusively about what they can do with land; very little talk about what can be used, and how, from rivers and lakes, and never about the sea. I like having access to all those things.
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Now, hunting on random land is another matter, gunfire brings attention, but there is plenty of good hunting land in the Northeast and the place is overpopulated with game animals. I know someone who regularly poached deer with bow in Yonkers which is 10-15 miles from midtown Manhattan. Good White Oak fed venison from America's largest metro area :-)
We have a big population of deer here; more deer per square mile than humans. We don't poach but I suspect some do. Deer roadkill is a very common sight so many go to waste but the buzzards are fat and happy. Of course that means that the buzzard population is pretty big too which some see as a nuisance but it doesn't bother me.
I used to get the "Why did you move there? Nobody moves there." My response, "Exactly."
Even the locals were/still are shocked that we chose here.
"Exactly" describes it perfectly.
When friends, neighbors, and family learn exactly where in Maine we bought land, they express shock and disappointment. One couple in particular (whom we have invited to visit with us someday) imagined that we would be on the Maine "downeast" seacoast, and had visions of sea breezes and fishing boats and lobster traps and seagulls...whatever. The thought of a far more northerly, inland and more heavily forested place never came to mind, and is nowhere near as appealing.
When friends, neighbors, and family learn exactly where in Maine we bought land, they express shock and disappointment. One couple in particular (whom we have invited to visit with us someday) imagined that we would be on the Maine "downeast" seacoast, and had visions of sea breezes and fishing boats and lobster traps and seagulls...whatever. The thought of a far more northerly, inland and more heavily forested place never came to mind, and is nowhere near as appealing.
Which may just be a good thing!
I can see that.
Before moving to Maine, the only friends we had who vacation in Maine have never been North of Kennebunkport. So they naturally assumed that we would be near that. I still do not think they are aware that Maine extends North and West.
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