Alabama Power Leases

Anybody hunting Alabama Power Co. land? If so how is the management of the property from the power company? Will they come in and cut during the season? Etc. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

You can contact the following person for these type questions:

Matt Fields
Email MTFIELDS@southernco.com
Phone 205-257-0771

I have contacted Matt Fields already, and would like to get some perspectives from hunters on the properties as well. Thanks.

we had a lease with them before matt came in. the year he came a lot of stuff changed or begain being inforced. a good example was we had a makeshift pole barn on our land at the lake that had prob been there 20 years and he made us tear it down. another club had a clubhouse/trailer that was prob 10 ft onto al power land that they leased and the trailer had to go. no camping. ride atv only to and from stand in a straight line. I know more stories but that's what ill share. seems he came in and tried to make a name for himself and I think he did a pretty good job of it.

When I had one in Randolph County I dealt with John Golden.. Mirage243 has the lease now, and another one from them prior also.. He could give more insight on it than I could.. But when I had it, they was always laid back..

I was in an established lease a few years ago, the lease had been held by the same group for 20 years, there was a run down old home on the prpoerty that had been made livable and fixed up, lease holders probably put 20,000$ into Repairing and upkeep of the house over the years. the power co people came through One day and said "we didn't know there was an existing structure on the property, we're going to have to raise the lease price by a few thousand." and they did. But in all my time there, APCO never did one improvement to any road on the property, and they got really bad before the lessees rented a dozier and fixed the roads. They will cut it when they want, without regard to your lease from what I saw.

Thanks for your insight casper36092. " seems he came in and tried to make a name for himself and I think he did a pretty good job of it", sounds exactly right from ur stories. This is the kind of info i need to hear, basically are they gona be a big pain in the arse or not.

Thanks for the replies guys, please keep them coming. Ive been thinking about some Alabama Power Co. land but didnt know if they had a lot of bullchit to put up with.

as Daniel white said john golden was a man of his word and you could do what u wanted on the land as long as you abide by rules don't cut pines yada yada. with the new guy I would find out as much as I could before leasing

If you want to know how doing business with the Alabama Power Land Division is, Google Pleasure Point Park and read what they are doing to 70 residents on Lake Martin.

I did......but I'm not sure I understand what's wrong with keeping sewage out of the river???

we hunt a lease with Alabama power they spray and cut when they want, we had several greenfields on the powerlines that were sprayed middle of season....they did try to avoid some

Do they give you any kind of heads up, or just come in and start spraying and cutting?

No heads up .....they just come and do it.

Same here.. They used to give a heads up but this past time they did NOT. They came on the land and jacked it all up. Cut down trees.. sprayed.. made a total mess. Will not do this again. Too much time and effort for this to happen. Total jerks about it as well.. they sub'd it out and had zero respect for us.

BTW that was a bit ago... maybe they have a procedure now they follow but I doubt it. Can't stand em after that.

well that dont sound very good. I cant believe that they wouldnt give you any kind of notice beforehand.

IM GOING TO SOUND LIKE AN ASS HERE BUT IT IS THEIR LAND AND THEY CAN COME IN AND DO AS THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT. DO THEY HAVE TO TELL YOU "HEY WE ARE COMMING TO CUT, SPRAY, YADA YADA, NO THEY DON'T JUST LIKE A MAJORITY OF TIMBER COMPANIES DONT TELL CLUBS EITHER, THEY JUST SHOW UP AND DO IT. NOW SHOULD THEY YES IT WOULD BE GREAT FOR THEM TO BUT, THEY DONT.. AND ANYONE THAT THINKS A TIMBER COMPANY IS ALL ABOUT GAME MANAGEMENT IS FULL OF IT. IF THEY WERE THEY WOULDNT CUT EVERY DAMN TREE ON THE PLACE AND ONLY PLANT PINES, THEY ARE ABOUT $$$$$$

Agree 100%. The opportunity to lease hunting land is a priviledge. Our club has leased from IP for years, then RMS since they bought out the property 8 or 9 years ago. Neither of them have EVER, not one single time, let us know when they were coming to cut, spray, thin, or plant. It's just part of it. It would be nice if they did, but it's just not how it's done. If you've ever leased from someone that does give notice, consider yourself lucky...it's far and away not normal. Heck, I've been sitting in a tree watching equipment roll in several times, and that was the first notice we had. Twice I've had to climb down due to them parking the equipment and setting up to get started within 100 yards fo where I was climbed.

Actually, it depends on the lease agreement. They used to always call and say what they need to do and when. Now they sub most of it to the lowest bidder and never a call. If you lease an apartment and the owner just shows up and makes himself at home and damages your stuff would that make you think different? I understand they own it, but have some respect.

The company (which will remain nameless) were the jerks. Alabama power on the other hand was pretty nice and respectful of our side. They aided in some repair cost. However, we didn't renew after that. Its seems to be the norm now.

That's when my gun discharges some rounds accidentally on purpose as they scared the bullets out of it