By Ethan Royer
According to an Indiana state forester, timber theft is on the rise. Why is this? I do not know, but I expect that as society degenerates, the pool of potential timber thieves is increasing. Timber theft occurs in two different ways: intentionally and unintentionally. This month I will relate a couple of instances of intentional timber theft and hopefully draw some lessons from the incidents. Even if we would not stoop to stealing timber, we may inadvertently become part of the problem if we are not careful about who we purchase timber or logs from.
INCIDENT NO. 1
A few years ago, Dad received an early morning phone call from one of our clients who lives only a few miles away. She reported that during the night someone attempted to help themselves to some of her trees near the road. We went over as soon as we could and found an interesting situation. There was a large Cottonwood that was cut but had gotten hung up in surrounding trees. One Basswood was cut, and another was notched. At last they found and cut an immature Walnut, but it fell across the road.
Evidence suggested that training in proper felling techniques was lacking: the stump was butchered and so was the end of the log. In an effort to trim off the splintered end, they pinched their chainsaw bar. This was not going according to plan—assuming they had a plan. Evidently, the pinched saw was the last straw; they removed the powerhead and left empty-handed. The county road crew cleared the tree off the road before we arrived.
As we loaded up the logs, I noticed a passing vehicle with dark windows pulling a flatbed trailer with a winch on the front. It is said that persistence pays off, but in this case, they were too late, the logs were already gone. We reported the incident to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which informed us that there had been a recent rash of similar incidents in the area. The DNR didn't get too excited; they said this case was merely vandalism since nothing was actually stolen.
INCIDENT NO. 2
A short time after the first incident, we were scheduled to log a job in nearby Elkhart. The property was a former golf course that had recently been sold. The new owner was in the process of remodeling the clubhouse with plans of eventually living there. A local sawmill had purchased the timber and had shown us the job, but it was early spring, and we were waiting for the ground to dry before starting.
The marked timber was scattered all over the property in little strips and patches, just the way you would expect a golf course to be. As part of the package, we were supposed to remove some trees near the clubhouse to accommodate the building expansion. (In case you wondered, here in Indiana, the line between tree service and logging is frequently blurred.) As you read the following account, keep in mind that it was the mill that was pressing for justice. I was relatively uninvolved, at least I thought so.
The trouble started when the owner sent the timber buyer an innocent text saying, "I see you started working." The timber buyer called me and asked, "You didn't move into that job yet did you?" No, we hadn't. I met the buyer and the owner at the site to see what was going on.
What had happened was someone had come in broad daylight and cut a handful of Walnut trees, winched them onto a trailer, and left. Perhaps due to operating in daylight, they were able to correctly identify Walnut trees this time. Observing their cutting technique was interesting but frightening. If they hung a tree, they would simply go under it and cut the tree it was hung in. Faith over fear?
The construction workers saw it happen but assumed it was legitimate because the trees were marked, and logging was supposed to be occurring. The construction crew mentioned later that hauling logs with a pickup and car trailer with a winch and spinning their way out through the mud and melting snow didn't seem very professional, but they weren't initially suspicious. They did have a vehicle description.
The DNR did take this incident more seriously since trees were stolen and because the mill was pressing them for action. They cut cookies off the stumps so they could match them to the logs if they were found. They also put out cameras in case the thieves returned.
With all due respect to local law enforcement, I must say that northern Indiana conservation officers (COs) are much more knowledgeable about how to handle wildlife violations than timber theft. While they were nice enough and eager to put a stop to this group of thieves, they lacked even a basic knowledge of the timber/sawmill industry. Apparently, they googled "veneer mills near me" and seemed confident that a large but distant veneer mill would be where the logs were headed. I was later informed that the CO told the timber buyer that these situations are usually the logger stealing from the mill—I was the top suspect! We'd worked with this mill for years, and they knew it wasn't me (Isn't my cutting technique a bit more refined?), but the buyer told the CO to check me out.
As it happened, the CO never got around to checking me out. Only several days after the investigation began, a member of the construction crew saw a truck and trailer driving through Elkhart with—you guessed it—Walnut logs. Having been informed of what was going on and recognizing it as the same rig that left the golf course with logs, he followed the truck to its destination, a residence with a stash of Walnut logs out back. Law enforcement was notified and arrived to discover that the truck and trailer were stolen as well as the logs.
However, none of the logs there matched the ones taken from the golf course job. Somehow. they discovered that he was marketing his logs at a sawmill across the state line in Michigan. The golf course logs were found there; they were able to match them up to the stump cookies. The logs were confiscated although the mill owner had paid for them. Moving stolen logs across state lines is a violation of the Lacey Act, making this a federal violation.
Indiana law says that when timber is stolen, a state forester will appraise the timber, either scaling recovered logs or using stumps and tops to estimate log value. The thief is then obligated to pay the rightful owner three times the appraised value. In this case, the logs were recovered so no estimating was necessary; it was a simple matter of scaling the logs. Ironically, the appraised value came in at one-third of the price that they were actually sold for a short time later. (In order for the appraisal to hold up in court, the DNR must use statewide survey data to determine value and apparently markets are not consistent across the state.) It didn't really matter because the thieves didn't have money to pay for the logs anyway.
TAKEAWAYS
1. Despite the fact that I was relatively uninvolved, I admit that my human nature wanted to see the thieves brought to justice. It is difficult to "take joyfully the spoiling of your goods" and tame the retaliatory feelings toward evildoers that rise within us. There is far more to nonresistance than merely abstaining from war.
2. Most judges (at least in Indiana) are not familiar with timber theft and do not take it too seriously. I'm fairly confident the Walnut logs were considerably more valuable than the stolen truck and trailer, but the police were more excited about those. Fear of punishment is a great motivator for those not equipped with keen consciences. If there is little fear of punishment, we can expect timber theft to continue.
3. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." If you own valuable Walnut trees, it may be prudent to consider ways to discourage theft, especially if they are in a vulnerable location like along a secluded road. My observation has been that most trespassers and thieves are opportunists: if it's difficult to access, they'll stay away. A perimeter fence or gated lane can help.
Most of the trees that were stolen by these individuals were easily seen from the seat of a vehicle and were accessible by vehicle and trailer; after all, they had no skidder. Limiting visual access is difficult or impossible—trees are tall—but making your property difficult to access is probably attainable. For instance, thinning woods along the road will result in dense undergrowth that is intimidating and may help obstruct the view from the road.
4. We should be cautious about who we buy logs/timber from so that we aren't an innocent accomplice to someone's crime. When buying timber, does the seller's name match real estate title records? When buying logs, does the seller have a timber buyer's license? A license is required in Indiana; however, tree services are exempt from needing a license. If you suspect someone is bringing stolen logs, ask questions! Ask to record their driver's license number or license plate number. Ask to see on a map where the trees came from and what the owner's name is. A legitimate seller won't mind a few questions, but a fraud will get uncomfortable and find elsewhere to go.
These Walnut thieves, posing as a tree service, had been selling logs to a small Amish sawmill until the proprietor became suspicious and asked a few too many questions; then they went elsewhere. We buy logs from tree services but usually pick them up on site, which is pretty safe. At times, we plain people are too trusting; we hesitate to question someone's integrity. Are we ethical enough to pass up a good deal if we are suspicious of fraudulent activity? Are we partly at fault when we enable lawlessness even if we ourselves are not technically doing anything wrong? Exercising due diligence goes a long way—as the saying goes, "Trust but verify."
Next month I will relate a couple of instances of unintentional timber theft.
Ethan Royer, of Royer Logging, lives with his family in northern Indiana and provides logging services in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. He can be reached at 574-849-0867.
This article was originally published in Plain Communities Business Exchange (PCBE). Reprinted with permission. To subscribe to PCBE, call (717) 362-1118 or visit www.pcbe.us