moving to Wyoming advice needed (Powell, Afton: for sale, real estate, house)

[Methen]

Hi, I have been considering moving to Wyoming and I need some advice big time, Primarily what iam am wanting is a piece of land with no building code restrictions, I want to raise me some horses, plant a lot of trees, and have a privacy wall surrounding my property,its the wall thing that has really got me the most concerned, I have looked at all kinds of farm land for sale in different states and the one thing I have notice is you never see any farm land or private estates that has any privacy or security walls, all you see is nothing but open land, is there some kind of laws that prevent that or what as I can seem to find any info on it one way or the other...

[sunsprit]

There are certainly places around the state where the unicorporated county areas have no building codes or restrictions on your property prohibiting your building a privacy wall.

Good luck on finding such a place with sufficient irrigation water to "plant a lot of trees" and where the soils, winds, & climate conditions are conducive to getting your trees established to maturity. Even building a shelter belt around a house or establishing a living snow fence takes a lot of work, many trees, and a long time to establish.

Given the difficulty in many areas of keeping a reasonable fence in good condition, I wish you all the best in erecting and maintaining a "wall" in these locations.

My advice: Bring lots of money ....

[Happy in Wyoming]

Back in the old days when people used horses for transportation there were numerous horse farms. Plank fences were common because the horses couldn't injure themselves as they can do with barbed wire. I have a privacy fence around my yard. It only encloses a small area, but it was not cheap.

There are many places where it's easy to grow trees, but those are places with a high water table. I looked at a beautiful place along the Shoshone River near Powell. There was a huge grove of cottonwoods near the river and several shade trees by the house. There were actually tree squirrels. But the house was a mess. It had a basement full of mold and the whole place smelled. I would have bought it if the house were considered worthless; I would have demolished it and built another house. But the price was definitely not right.

[Methen]

Well when I say privacy walls I am talking about 10 -12 ft wall made out of granite stone
the reason I asked about trees is I see a lot of places of nothing but open fields, similar to link below,I did not know if such places had laws against starting your little private forest or not...



936 Acres in Albany County, Wyoming - Property - LandAndFarm.com - Land for Sale

[jody_wy]

you can build in the trees here Listing: | MLS# 14-7 - Homes in Star Valley, Afton Airpark, Afton Homes for Sale, Property Search in Afton, Star Valley Wyoming homes

[jody_wy]

There wooded lots for sale around the State. but people pay more for trees water and big rocks.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Methen

Well when I say privacy walls I am talking about 10 -12 ft wall made out of granite stone
the reason I asked about trees is I see a lot of places of nothing but open fields, similar to link below,I did not know if such places had laws against starting your little private forest or not...



936 Acres in Albany County, Wyoming - Property - LandAndFarm.com - Land for Sale

I know this area very well, west of I-25 along the Colorado border.

For all the real estate agency claims about it being a productive grassland area, it sits out in the middle of nowhere with tremendous winds/gusts. Once the winter moisture layer and spring rains have diminished into normal weather patterns, it turns brown for most of the year.

While planting as many trees as you'd care to wouldn't be prohibited, you've got two major problems in trying to establish them on this parcel:

1) You have NO WATER on this parcel for this purpose. The "stock well" there is limited to watering livestock and you cannot irrigate with that water.

2) You'll need to create effective wind breaks for each and every tree, and they'll all need to be staked. There is a multitude of reasons why there are no natural trees there now; the climate, soil, lack of water, and strong seasonal winds/gusts simply kill any such growth. With the wintry conditions there, even in optimal conditions and protection for your trees, I'd envision a 98%+ die-back of your tree stands every year of the trees you plant.

If what I'm reading is correct ... that you want to erect a 10-12' high stone fence around the perimeter of your property ("have a privacy wall surrounding my property") as opposed to a privacy fence in the immediate area of your house, my impression is that you're looking at many miles of an expensive fence. Given the wind velocities common in this area and your concept of a solid fence, you'll need a rather stout fence structure to survive the winters. As I suggested in my first post ... bring lots of money.

PS: You realize that this 936 acre parcel is without improvements? No domestic use or irrigation water.
No utilities. Incomplete fencing for livestock there now (understand, this is a "fence out" area), which means if you don't want your neighbor's livestock grazing on your land, you will need to erect legal fences (at your expense) to keep the livestock off your property. With that much land, even minimal legal fences will cost a bundle of money. As well, there is no residence on the property now .... so you'll need to prep a site, build the place, drill a domestic use well, install a septic system, etc.

Should also mention that access to this area in the winter months could be quite problematic due to snowfall and drifts.

[Rescue3]

Walls aren't very common here - it's Wyoming. Not much need for them. We don't have but a tad over a half million people in the whole state - fewer than six per square mile. (Fewer than the city of Baltimore, MD.) Any place that has horses has a good bit of distance to the next neighbor. And neighbors tend to leave each other alone out here.

A 12' wall out here is called a 'windbreak,' and several months of the year it would produce 'snowdrifts.'

Wyoming is not like Abbottabad or Khandahar or Dahran, where walls around compounds are common. Even several Middle Eastern families who live nearby don't have walls around their (very expansive) ranches. They have acreage. It takes Google Earth to even see their homes - and Google earth doesn't respect the privacy sought by those behind 12' walls.

In fact, a 12' wall in Wyoming would probably raise questions. A lot of questions. Probably attract more curious interest than the privacy you might be seeking.

As to trees, we lost six Colorado Blue Spruces last year to drought. And we only had twelve in that field, which is about six feet above a water table. So if you want trees, probably ought to think about how you are going to irrigate them.

I agree with Sunsprit - bring a lot of money...

[Methen]

Yeah that piece of land was just a example, I am confused about the water if there is so little of it then how come there is over 936 acres of green grass, as for the wall, The reasons I want something like that is mainly privacy and piece of mind, knowing any animals I have on the farm are inside nice and safe, I do not know what all the zoning laws up there are, That's why I figure it would be best if I get a piece of property with no building codes and plan ahead...

[jody_wy]

relators take spring pictures when the grass is green , right after snow melt or a good spring rain storm.