Landowner's Notebook

Practicum for the Small Private Landowner

Starting from scratch

A layman-to-layman exchange: a working notebook for enjoying and managing private land.

Entrance to Hillcrest Farm

The Notebook

A field guide built from experience

This resource is particularly directed to the new landowner. It is based on personal research and more than twenty years of field experience managing private land in central Virginia. The web offers many professional resources; this notebook organizes useful starting points while sharing practical lessons from Hillcrest.

Your way does not need to be my way, and my way may not always be the right way. The hope is that these chapters make the first steps clearer and the long project of stewardship more enjoyable.

Chapters

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Our Story

A weekend laboratory to the outside world

Hillcrest began as a family property in Cumberland County, Virginia, in November 1997. Over time it became a place for recreation, wildlife-habitat improvement, forestry management, hunting, shooting sports, annual food plots, and an ongoing education in private land stewardship.

Give more than you take. When you leave, make sure things are better off than when you started.
Hillcrest Farm entrance