MEDWAY, Maine — Maine Forest Service rangers and state police served search warrants at several locations Wednesday as part of an investigation into a report of about $20,000 worth of wood allegedly cut illegally from a Hartland timber lot.
The dozen rangers and state police spent the morning and part of the afternoon serving the four search warrants on a Medway logging business, the Gateway Motor Inn, and two town residences, forest service Lt. Jeff Currier said.
Currier called the investigation one of the most significant alleged timber thefts rangers have investigated this year. Rangers handle hundreds of such complaints annually, he said.
“Most people don’t understand the value of wood,” Currier said as he stood outside the Inn. “I’ve seen several [logging] trucks pass by here, and from my knowledge of market conditions, I bet that each carried about $1,000 worth of wood. Wood gets very expensive.”
The investigators were searching for weight-scale slips and trip tickets, items that loggers and truckers use to verify the amount of wood they haul and the paper or saw mills they deliver it to, Currier said.
Investigators say the wood hauled from Hartland went to close to a dozen mills statewide. He identified the logging company, but the Bangor Daily News is withholding the name because no one has been charged with a crime.
An argument between a landowner and a logger might seem like a civil dispute, but most of the complaints rangers handle are criminal matters because they often involve fraudulent bookkeeping and paperwork, Currier said.
Wednesday’s case could result in Class B felony charges, which typically carry as many as 10 years of imprisonment and fines, he said.
“This is a case that has risen to the level of [possible] criminal conduct that the forest service and the district attorney’s office are intent on pursuing,” Currier said.
Currier said he hopes to have the investigation completed by Friday.
i can’t understand why you almost never hear of these criminals that steal timber going to prison! always a small fine and restitution. what’s the difference between stealing timber and a car or drugs? you’ll read about the same names in court time after time. Send them to prison and bar them from ever logging again!
EXACTLY! I’ve had over $15,000.00 of timber stolen from my lot by 4 people. I filed a complaint, the forest rangers got involved. They questioned the 4 involved. The matter went to court and only one guy of the four got fine $50.00 there wasn’t any restitution at all so for that $50.00 fine they made $14,950.00 They cut without permission, no contract of any kind, they just walked in and started cutting at night.
And, I wasn’t the only party they stole timber from, they also stole from several other land owners too.
There’s no difference between stealing timber, cars or drugs, it’s all called stealing.
They should be barred from logging.The reason it is so hard to convict is no physical proof of theft.With cars and drugs,you have physical evidence.People need to get involved,if you notice someone cutting land that you suspect would never be cut notify someone.If there isn’t a wood permit number on the entrance of the woodlot report it.Even if you are wrong,at least the rangers know about it.They are stretched very thin with many miles to cover.They can’t see it,if they aren’t there..
There were very many cops, warden’s, sheriffs! Why so many involved over stolen wood. Seen less enforcement with robberies. Something fishy or there is more we don’t know yet.
If you owned your own woodlot,you’d understand. Wood is valuable this day and age!
I know of a group of people that own two camps here in Embden but they live in Portland. Every fall they ride around on atv’s searching the trails and stealing firewood from whomever. When I approached them about stealing wood they justified it with “if we don’t take it it will just lay there”. Next year we’ll see how the state Police view their actions. Three or four cords or one hundred cords stealing is stealing.
openminedmainer is right. The Rangers do a good job, thev’e shut down some of the theives in my neck of the woods but they can’t be everywhere. A few bad guys make the rest of the loggers look bad. Sounds like the Rangers are on the trail of one in Medway though!
“Wood bandits” strike again. I agree, no difference between stealing a car or timber except, your car is generally covered by insurance and can be replaced or damages repaired. Trees cannot be replaced, at least in our lifetime. Funny how the story says one of those trucks carry $1000 worth of wood, try buying one of em for firewood for that price.
Funny that they didn’t withhold the names of Nowak and Porter before either of them were charged with a crime but for some reason they can’t print the name of this business that is being investigated?
What a crock of BS? Protecting business but not protecting people? From the same paper that prints pro Occupy articles.