Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Westervelt Letter

I got a letter from Westervelt saying they are gonna start charging a $500 "litter deposit" for all leases. You send them $500, and when you end the lease they will give it back if there is no litter anywhere on the place. I have an 80 acre lease with them that I've had 15 years. There ain't no litter on it that I put there, put there are a couple of trash dumps from long ago.

There is a limit to how far hunters can be pushed. I suspect this is gonna be mine.

I wonder who thinks up these things?

At the very least, sounds like an interest free loan to me. I don't think it would be very hard to find litter in any woods, there's always stuff that's been there for years. Found a balloon from who knows where this weekend.

Remington is spot on. Interest free loan is all it is. $500 for each lease they have is alot of money.

Wow.... I run across or notice new stuff almost every time I'm out on land....and like y'all said it's been there for years, sometimes decades...

That's just hogwash. Absolutely.

WITH INTEREST?

Kind of an ironic idea considering every logging crew I've ever seen on Westervelt property I've hunted on leaves empty 5 gallon hydraulic fluid buckets, amongst other things, everywhere.

When you rent a car or apartment, typically you have a damage fee and/or some kind of deposit against damages.

This is similar. But how in Hades are you going to thoroughly document hundreds or thousands of acres to be "litter free" when you sign the contract or it's time to end the contract? Someone going to walk every acre? Just check your camp site? Is a kid's balloon or Publix bags blown onto the property "litter" or would it take a lot more, like a dump?

Good post.
Thats ridiculous! There has been so much trash on some leases ive hunted im sure they could find a way to keep that 500.00.
If they are gonna pull the deposit card they need to first clean up the exsisting old campers,barrells,trash piles, and etc before this should ever be collected from a current leasee that didnt contribute to it or a future lessee who didnt either.
The companies we lease from understand they have hunters between a rock and a hard spot. Just look at lease prices in Alabama for crappy land structure. Sad.

Is this for every lease or just one they allow camping on? Is 'litter' defined? Is one beer can or a case of beer cans $500. Are they going to refund your deposit each and every year or will it carry over if you continue to lease?

I have no affiliation with Westervelt but I am sure there is a reason behind this other than keeping a club's $500. It is probably aimed more at passing environmental audits. The deposit is just a way to motivate the hunters to clean up after themselves. Honestly, I see it difficult to enforce.

I'm sure they had a reason for requiring the deposit. I would imagine they have had some issues where some leasees left a mess. Not that I agree with the deosit completely, but you guys know that not all hunters are like you and I.

The last piece of property that I went and looked at that Westervelt wanted to lease had an abandoned campsite on it. There was a large shed that was falling down and blocks, pipes, underpinning, etc all around.

Are they gonna clean all that crap up and start with a clean slate?? Or, are they trying to take advantage of the hunters currently leasing the property and force them to clean up everybody else's mess??

Not to mention.....is the $500 a flat fee no matter how much land it is? $500 deposit for an 80 acre lease is a lot different than $500 for a 3000 acre lease!

If it were me, I would take pictures of all the current dumps and trash piles. Make sure you have it on record that they were there before you paid the deposit. CYOA.

As for the rest, I wear cargo style pants when I pig hunt. I can't tell you how many times I have walked out of the woods with my pockets full of trash. And don't even get me started on the Lowndes WMA. Some of those hunters should be ashamed of themselves.

There is no definition of what would be enough litter for them to keep the $500. And this is not for a camp site; the minimum deposit for a camp site will now be $1000, and the area manager can charge more if he wants.

This is just the fee for a simple little 80 acre lease. And it is an 8 yr old pine plantation that we never set foot on the past hunting season; just used it for a sanctuary and tried to shoot deer when they come off it. The only reason I leased it was because I knew if somebody else did they would surround the borders with tree stands that would be watching our land. There's nowhere else on it to put a tree stand except the borders. It is right behind a house and the folks that lived there have dumped garbage on it for years.

I will try to talk to them and get an exception, but having dealt with them before, I doubt it will work. Westervelt is pretty bureaucratic, and I suspect a rule is gonna be a rule. The thing is, they know if I don't lease it somebody else will. If you don't own land, you have no control; just the way it is.

i left westervelt this year.My last last year with this company.we was leasing 1300 acres.we was charged 500 dollar camp deposit for a camping area that was completely trashed when we got there.they should have paid us for having to clean it up.The bioligist never offered any kind of advice to us for improving habitat.they wouldnt allow any kind of night hunting for predators or hogs even though florida law said we was allowed.Than on top of all that we had to record deer sightings and collect the jaw bones out of all the deer we killed and record them.Not to mention the trash piles that were on the leases when we got out there from clubs before us.
the lease we was on was butchered to death.than they turn around after the pines are thinned and kill everything with herbicides.i learned this year they are clear cutting another 100 acres and thinning out 3 more areas.on 1300 acres there was very little left to hunt that hadn't been turned to waste land.i found something way better.Oh and we werent allowed to put up no trespassing signs.we had to hang there stupid westervelt managed hunting unit so our frequent trespassers thought it was a management area.there are way to many other companies that have available land than having to deal with all that.

PCP, who's your lease manager? Westervelt was always good to work with when I leased from them. I would think that you could work something out on the $500.

TatSoul - to the best of my knowledge, Westervelt doesnt own any property in FL. They handle or at least they used to handle the leasing of all that FL property south of I10 over in Holmes, Bay County and the Panama City area on a fee basis. The landowners pay them a fee to manage the leases and handle the paperwork and collect the money for them. Westervelt can suggest stuff but the landowner calls the shots on what happens on the property such as timber harvest etc. is the owner's decision.

westevelt forces the deer collection data and the tresspass signs.they are just a third party that i think the timber company could do without.so the timber company put up rules than westervelt adds more.i will personally avoid any more westervelt leases.

Abolt, I don't know who it is. I'll find out and try to talk to him. I'm surprised nobody else on here got the letter.

We had a " camp fee" this year. He told me its to make sure we don't keave trash and debri where we camp and its completely refundable if we clean up after our self. .........

I had a 360 acre lease with them and was also a member of a club in Marengo cty. this past year. they actually came onto the club property and threatened to pull lease from president if he didnt clean up around his place from crap he had accumulated over the years. I dropped my lease with them also because they didnt follow thru on several complaints about this same club breaking rules and it had 400 acres and the guy had 10 members on it,not to mention they came in during season and clear cut the only ridge on the property . I wont ever lease from them again .

I lease from Westervelt. I better not get one of those letters.