•Spring 2017

ethic, there’s a conflict. You have to balance peoples’
changing desires and economic needs, so for most people
everything can’t be purely recreation. This property has been
in flux since the 1830’s. At one time it was a cotton plantation,
then in 1888 quail plantation asset class replaced that, and
for the last 90 years Chemonie has been used to propagate
wild quail populations. Now this owner has converted about
20 percent of the property to cattle operations, but not a
traditional southeastern cattle ranch, more symbiotic to the
land, planting legume and grasses that also benefit wildlife.”
“One of our favorite things to do is to improve properties to
the next higher asset class. Thankfully, in our market the bestmanaged
natural properties are worth the most. Therefore,
we can take a timber property and improve it for wildlife,
aesthetics and timber and it will be worth more as a high
quality recreational property than in the lower timber asset
class. This adds value to the landowner and is the right thing
to do with the land. It’s a win-win!” says Kohler.
We were joined by Tall Timbers President Dr. Bill Palmer,
whose perspective on cattle conversions on southern
plantations was based on understanding and deep
knowledge. No doubt that habitat preservation and the
conservation of quail ground and old-growth longleaf pine is
pure in his passion. But he supports the practice of keeping
properties from being overly commercialized.
“Some properties take segments of their land and maximize
cattle production, some are planting agricultural crops.
Having a balance between maintaining the biodiversity and
natural resources—the core for quail land—and ensuring
families can afford it and keep their property means
developing other ways to increase economic potential.” Dr.
Palmer went on to stress the importance and realization that
costs to maintain these plantations is actually going down,
with modernization of farming equipment and efficiencies in
crops and cattle management.
Being based in Colorado and from the west coast, I never
knew about the heritage of the Red Hills and the “plantation
life” until working with the team at Jon Kohler & Associates.
The landowners there take wildlife and land stewardship to
a whole new level. The same goes for every other part of
the country in which LandLeader has brokers, from Maine
to California and throughout 35 states. Every area has its
own critical areas and features. As a marketing enthusiast I
have always tried to educate myself about the product I am
promoting, and with a river of knowledge from our regional
and local land specialists we have the tools, knowledge and
passion for selling land in every cranny of this country.
CHEMONIE PLANTATION HAS MODIFIED THEIR PROPERTY IN RECENT YEARS
TO ADD INCOME PRODUCING CATTLE OPERATIONS (BEYOND POINTER) TO
BALANCE THE HISTORICAL RECREATIONAL LAND ASSET.
LAND.COM • LEGENDARY LIVING
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