6. What do I do if I am a victim of a Timber Trespass or Timber Theft?

Time is of the essence! DO NOT hesitate; first call to make is to your local DNR office. The Division of Natural Resources will be the enforcement agency that will handle the primary investigation of the case. If it is a time frame that you can't reach your local DNR office, than call 911 or your police agency. It is likely they will not be able to investigate the case and will transfer you to the DNR office, but you will be able to file the report with them. Your next call needs to be to Clear Creek Forestry or your choice for a registered professional forester. Everything needs to be done NOW to ensure the quality and accuracy of the evidence. In order to prosecute, you will have to have an inventory and investigation done by a registered professional forester or firm. They will be your expert litigation testimony for your case. I can't stress enough that time is of the essence, make your contacts now! It increases the chances that you will even be able to catch the thief either with the logs, or where the logs were delivered. Your contact forester will be able to give you good ideas or options where the logs might have been delivered and research those out for you. If you are lucky and you noticed the trespass quickly, and responded immediately you will have an even better chance of catching the thief.

Timber Theft is extremely prevalent every day and everywhere! Remember trees grow in remote areas, where there is no neighborhood watch, or even a neighbor close enough to hear or see anything. Unless you notice the theft within a very short time period, it is a tough case to solve without physical proof evidence; pictures, video, eye witness testimony of the actual act, guilty plea, etc. Circumstantial evidence can hold some weight in court depending on the judge and jury, but it often is thrown out. Added to the difficulty in prosecution is the high value of the product to the thief, thus resulting in a very high crime rate. Choose the right specie and tree, and in one pickup truck load the thief can gain several hundred to a thousand dollars.

Do that two nights out of the week in the back of your beat up ½ ton truck with a hoist, taking one tree here and one tree there... and these guys make a pretty good living. We want to stop these criminals NOW, and every one of them stealing from you NOW! Make sure to keep an eye out or have someone near your property keep an eye out for you! You don't want this to happen to you! Contact Clear Creek Forestry for our absentee landowner securities services! Today is the day, don't wait till tomorrow, or until you are a victim before you start to protect yourself!

Some key elements that will help you develop a strong case or prevent you from being a victim:

• Remember these thieves are just that, they are criminals, so approach them with caution! Depending on the individual you will get two different reactions, either a reaction of defense and threats or a reaction of ignorance to make it look like a mistake. If you decide to confront them in the action, contact your local DNR or Law Enforcement agency to accompany you.

• We recommend that everyone carry a disposable camera in their vehicle at all times. Or have your nearby neighbor take pictures of loaded trucks or anything else that might be of question. Remember the more physical evidence you have, with dated pictures, names on vehicles, faces of individuals handling the logs will only increase your odds of prosecution of everyone involved.

• Take notes on everything you see, who you see, types and colors of vehicles, any names on the vehicles and equipment, license plate numbers, times and dates, and other information you can write down. All of these will help to prosecute as well as allow you to keep your memories and findings fresh in your head.

• Understand that not all logging contractors have employees, but could have contract individuals working on their behalf. In some cases, in order to prosecute the actual logging contractor you will have to have physical evidence showing the actual logging contractor performing the action or handling the logs. Otherwise you will have to prosecute the individuals handling the logs, and have them to testify against the logging contractor or they will accept the liabilities. So, it is important to gather as much evidence as possible through the notes and pictures so that you can prosecute the case fully.

• If you know that your neighboring property is being logged make sure that your boundary lines are visually marked and easily identified on the ground. This will help identify your property and reduce the chances of mistakes being made by the neighboring logging contractor. Don’t rely on your neighbor or the logging contractor to identify their boundaries, it is up to you to protect yourself.

• Also understand that these individuals are very sly on the methods they choose. Be suspect of everything being done in your area during the day time or night time, and both small and large operations. They have used old school buses and have winched the logs through the back of the school bus.

Timber Theft happens so often, and is such a tough case to solve that there are many surveillance and protection items out there. Items from patrols, cameras, tagged trees, GPS located trees, actual computer chips embedded under the bark that will alarm and track that tree if it is moved. Remember a High Quality single Black Cherry tree in the east, for example, can bring up to several thousands of dollars. If you are a thief, what would you steal? That is what these items are to protect. So, if you are a timber thief, understand that it is getting tougher for you. I would bet that about every company road is under surveillance, and I know that Federal lands definitely have several elements of protection. I wouldn't recommend Timber Theft today, it is not a good career path!!

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