Rob Schlein of Prince Lobel’s Real Estate Practice Group recently acted as Massachusetts counsel to the Wisconsin-based Stockbridge-Munsee Community, a Mohican tribe recognized by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, in the purchase of 372 acres of undeveloped land in Stockbridge, which is part of the Tribe’s ancestral homelands in Massachusetts.
The land comprises a single parcel assembled by a local family over nearly 100 years, and the Tribe intends to maintain it as forest land. The land had never been surveyed and Rob assisted the Tribe in identifying a Stockbridge-based surveying firm that was up to the task of tramping through snow-covered and unimproved terrain with steep slopes, including a portion of Monument Mountain, and installing boundary monuments. A plan of the land was recorded with the Berkshire Middle District Registry of Deeds as part of the closing process.
Other issues requiring special attention included advice on the various title chains which comprise the parcel and issues concerning a Forest Management Plan and a Forest Land tax classification under Chapter 61 of the Massachusetts General Laws.
The Tribe’s land purchase was covered by the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal:
For more information on purchasing undeveloped land, the Forest Land tax classification and related issues, contact Robert M. Schlein, [email protected], or any member of Prince Lobel’s Real Estate group.
