When I signed my hollow lease with the timber company, I took the land manager's word that their aerial spray program would stay off my north-facing slope. Handshake. Done. Three springs later I walked into a ramp patch that looked like someone had poured hot water across it. Triclopyr drift from a ridge-top application. No recourse because I had nothing in writing.
I have since talked to two other folks in the Ozarks who made the same mistake with timber leases. The verbal assurance feels solid when you're sitting across from a friendly land manager, but those managers rotate, companies get sold, and spray contractors answer to schedules, not goodwill.
If you are leasing or buying land adjacent to commercial timber operations, demand a written buffer zone agreement that names specific parcels, spray methods, and notification windows. Attach it to the lease. Get it recorded if you can. A plant community that took decades to establish can be gone in one afternoon.
Has anyone successfully negotiated enforceable spray buffer language with a large timber company, or is my experience that most companies simply refuse?