to think no one should own land and ignore a sign saying private woods

[mls3]

Ok o will probably get flamed here.

But there is a badly managed woods near me with am old broken sign that say private woods. Aibu to collect a few broken branches for the wood burner? I know it is stealing, but this woods is overgrown and I'm thinking how unethical it is for anyone to own land.

Land used to all be free, until someone carved it all up to hoard for themselves. If land was still free now maybe we wouldn't have to all be working such stupid hours wasting our lives doing a job we don't like.

We don't know that the OP 'can't afford wood' jeee.

Most people are trying to cut costs now.

Scarlet

If land was still free now maybe we wouldn't have to all be working such stupid hours wasting our lives doing a job we don't like.

I have been up since 3am and went to bed late. So I have been grumpy to say the least. Then I read the above. When DD is settled I will RTFT.

I think I have high morals generally, but I probably wouldn't think twice about this, if it's not obvious that it belongs to a local house. It's a few sticks of wood. You're not intending to go rampaging, destroying everything and leaving litter around. obviously don't have the high morals I thought I had

YABU. My sister and I have a tiny wood where we grew up (my parents bought it when we were born and gifted it to us when we were 18 - best present ever!) and it probably looks pretty shambolic but is actually carefully managed by my Dad who has a background in forestry. We discourage people from going in there, not because we're being mean, but because there's a large badger settlement and we don't want them disturbed.

If land was still free now maybe we wouldn't have to all be working such stupid hours wasting our lives doing a job we don't like.

Have you ever worked on a farm? A lot of my Dad's family are farmers and DH's family have a small holding. From what I have seen as a non farmer; if you want stupid hours and no holiday - farming is the job for you.

Everything cdwales said.

We have what appears to be lumps of old wood from the trees in the fields around us. It looks for all the world like piles of firewood that we haven't got round to collecting. They are wildlife habitats that we deliberately do not disturb, year on year.

Op, I understand that you don't want to see resources wasted, but please make sure that you know what is actually going on in those woods before you act. And yes, it would be polite to ask, at least!

The best statistic I can find for land ownership is that 0.6 per cent of the British people own 69 per cent of the land.

Also that 70 per cent of the population collectively owns most of the 5 per cent of the UK that is urban.

But anyway land hasn't been free and unclaimed since humans started to settle down instead of wandering around as hunter-gatherers, so it really doen't make much difference.

The wood belongs to someone, the fallen branches belong to someone. You can choose whether to ignore that or not.

And the land may or may not be being actively managed for wildlife which you will be disturbing by tramping over it to collect branches. If you are so concerned about other species, I think that would be the most relevant point - ethically, you really cannot take the risk that you are damaging them by doing this without checking first.

I think that the fact it is an old, broken sign, says something.

*I agree with you. It seems ridiculous that you can pay some money and own a bit of the earth. Who bought it from whom? Its ground. Its just there. Its not something that someone crafted. Its fucked up

However the law wont see it that way, but if the land is neglected, I dont see that anyone is going to be that bothered if you take some sticks*

Thanks I'm glad at least one person understands me

What makes you think that people who disagree with you don't understand what you are saying?

I think I have high morals generally, but I probably wouldn't think twice about this, if it's not obvious that it belongs to a local house. It's a few sticks of wood. You're not intending to go rampaging, destroying everything and leaving litter around.

Thanks that's how I see it. The branch in question I'm eyeing up fell last winter. There are no houses nearby. I will try to find the owner though.

OP are you going to ignore the posts that say the woods might be being actively managed for wildlife in a way that makes it look neglected? Or are you going to do the ethical thing and check with the owner first?

x-posts, good that you're going to find the owner. I hope they're easy to find and helpful.

Bouttimeforwine
What does it say? That the owner doesn't want people going into the wood, and hasn't wanted people going into the wood for a long time?

Or that the owner needs to give it a bit of a Laura Ashely Farrow & Ball makeover before it can be considered a legitimate sign?

Aww ... it's all resolved and I wanted to post this.

Anyway, I wouldn't trespass, but because I'd be nervous about dogs/traps in a wood I didn't know.

My BIL owns a wood which is completely neglected. I doubt anyone would notice if someone went in and nicked a few trees even. I think it is bloody dangerous to go in. DH would love his own wood and would look after it, but sadly he is not the eldest son who inherited everything.

I think if it was a free for all there wouldn't be one twig left by now!

YABU and entitled.

Ah, wood burning stoves. Every man and his dog has one now so the OP won't be the only one with their eye on this woodland. At least what the OP is considering is not as brash as what my husband has to put up with. He's a tree surgeon and often when they do a job within sight of a public road, wood will be stolen if it's left overnight. Particularly annoying when they have cut and stacked it (chainsaws take a surprising amount of fuel, chain oil and maintenance). This happens much more often now since wood burning stoves became popular.
So, even though it's only a few dead branches, the polite thing to do is go round and ask. Yes best if you offer to do some coppicing, fencing and replanting if you think the land is badly managed; but if you can't be arsed with the time and effort it takes to learn that, a bottle of wine would perhaps suffice. Just don't give the landowner a lecture on what a capitalist pig (s)he is when you're doing the asking.

Honestly op, I see where you're coming from, but I'd ask, I'd worry about possibly upsetting badgers etc like other posters have said, but traps are a very real possibility!

Just ask them,I don't want to be reading your 'live caught in a bear trap thread' !

Bingo someone's called me entitled!

Isn't it part of the magna carter for pesants to be allowed to collect fallen branches? Heaven forbid I wasn't to use less fosil fules from dodgy countries.

Right I've sent off a form to try to contact the owner.

Going back to the complaint about people coming in & "stealing" the previously un-owned land, can I just point out, before people 'owned' the land, animals did. The land would've been divided up within a species so that each animal/group would've had its own patch. Any stranger wandering onto someone else's patch would've been reprimanded. Just because we defend our patches with law courts & define our areas with maps rather than scent marking doesn't make the theory any different. Lots of different non-competing species of animal would've occupied the same land as their patch. We're just another species.

The argument that property is theft, given that there aren't enormous walls around the land which prevent free movement, has about as much weight as a lion sulking because he's been chased off another lion's patch.

All this talk of badgers,tax payers money is currently being spent in this area to shoot badgers...

Dont understand...all land used to be free. Lets all go to ops house and pick her flowers as its free. Ignoring that op phone the land owner and ask if you can have some wood. I bet he agree to you having some. :-)