Buying Land Next to the Chattahoochee National Forest: The Title and Survey Checklist

If you are buying land next to the Chattahoochee National Forest in Lumpkin County, the title and survey work has to answer three things the deed alone will not: where the forest line actually runs, whether anything you are buying sits or travels across it, and whether your access depends on forest land. Lumpkin County says 44% of its 283 square miles lies within the forest (Lumpkin County), so this is not a rare situation. Here is a checklist, in the order we would work it, with the record and the rule behind each step.

The checklist at a glance

1. Read the description and the adjoining tract

Pull the deed into the seller and the plat it cites, then work back through the chain; the deed records guide shows how. Note the land lot, district and section. The Forest Service has used the same grid for its own land: a 2019 Blue Ridge District permit in neighboring Union County located a private road access by tract, land lot, district and section (USFS). Matching your calls to the forest tract’s is the start of knowing where the line is. Our legal description article explains each call.

2. Order a current boundary survey

Use a professional land surveyor licensed by the Georgia Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board (O.C.G.A. § 43-15-2). Georgia’s standards require the surveyor to evaluate conformity with adjacent tracts and report overlaps and gores on all maps, plats and reports (Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. 180-7), so ask for the forest line to be shown and any overlap or gap with the forest tract reported. Plats must also show apparent encroachments and observed evidence of human burials or cemeteries (Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. 180-7).

3. Look for encroachments in both directions

Walk the line with the plat. A shed, fence, cleared yard, woodpile or driveway past the line is a use of forest land, and the Forest Service says occupying or using National Forest System land takes a special-use authorization: “a legal document such as a permit, term permit, lease, or easement” granted “for a specific use of the land for a specific period of time” (USFS). If the seller has one, get a copy. If not, ask the Blue Ridge Ranger District, 706-745-6928, before you count that improvement as part of the deal (USFS).

Title insurance follows the survey: under the 2021 ALTA Owner’s Policy, encroachments and boundary-line overlaps are covered only if an accurate and complete land title survey would have disclosed them (2021 ALTA Owner’s Policy).

4. Confirm how you get in

Start with the road sign. Lumpkin County road name signs are green; privately maintained road name signs should be blue with white lettering (Lumpkin County Roads). On a private road, look for a recorded easement and a road maintenance agreement in the deed records. If the route crosses forest land, ask for the special-use authorization that covers it and read its term. The Union County example above was a permit for a private road access of 0.01 acre, 30 feet long by 14.52 feet wide. The 2021 ALTA Owner’s Policy lists no right of access to and from the land as a covered risk (2021 ALTA Owner’s Policy), subject to the exceptions in Schedule B. How private ways arise under Georgia law is on easements and landlocked land.

5. Think about splitting or building later

If you might divide the land one day, read the county code now. Access to every subdivision lot must be over a public street or public access street, and cannot be provided by private easement or private right-of-way (Lumpkin County Code). Only minor subdivides and the code’s exemptions may divide land reached by an easement or private road (Lumpkin County Code). To build a new home, the county requires a septic permit, a recorded plat and a site plan showing driveway, septic, setbacks and structure location (Lumpkin County FAQ).

6. Map the creeks and the flood zone

Mark every creek on the survey. Lumpkin County Planning states buffers of 25 feet for warm-water streams and 50 feet for primary and secondary trout waters, and the buffer cannot be disturbed without a variance from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (Lumpkin County FAQ). For flood zones, FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer lists Lumpkin County’s map panels with an effective date of April 4, 2018 (FEMA NFHL), while the county’s flood ordinance still adopts a 1991 Flood Insurance Study “and any revision thereto” (Lumpkin County Code). Check FEMA’s current map for the parcel.

7. Ask for the septic record

Lumpkin County Environmental Health, a section of the Georgia Department of Public Health, provides existing septic records by email request with the property address; requests can take up to 48 hours (Lumpkin Environmental Health). On a cabin near the forest line, compare the system’s location with the survey.

8. Read the commitment with the survey beside it

Schedule B, Part II of the commitment lists the exceptions the final policy will include unless they are cleared to the insurer’s satisfaction (2021 ALTA Commitment). Look for survey matters, easements and anything that names the United States or the Forest Service. ALTA publishes endorsements titled “Access and Entry” (17-06) and “Same as Survey” (25-06) (ALTA); whether either is offered on your policy, and what it would do for this tract, is a question for the closing attorney you choose. Our commitment guide decodes the rest.

The forest line is one of several issues covered on national forest boundaries and the mountain land title issues hub.

Questions people ask

Written by the Dahlonega Title Guide Editorial Team. AI tools help us draft; people check every fact against its source before it publishes.