Forest officials in Oregon are working against poachers who are cutting down trees with abandon.
The problem has plagued the area near Tollgate and other places in and near the Deschutes National Forest, The Nugget Newspaper reported in December, when a felled old-growth ponderosa pine was discovered near Sisters, Oregon.
The U.S. Forest Service had taken care to protect the tree as it conducted wildfire maintenance, which made the criminal act particularly heartbreaking.
The felling of even just one old-growth tree hurts, partly because old-growth trees store more carbon than younger trees.
"It's super important," Sisters Ranger District special forest products officer Jeremy Fields told the Nugget, noting there was an open investigation at the time to catch the culprit or culprits. "That's why we left it there."
Trees clean our air and water, relieve stress, and provide habitat for wildlife. Older forests and newly planted trees are vital as carbon dioxide pollution continues to rise, noted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Climate Portal.
"Planting trees where they've been lost is often a good idea, and that will take up CO2," professor Charles Harvey said, per the outlet. "But a much more efficient thing to do, to have a larger effect for the same effort, is to stop cutting down trees. It's almost silly to think about planting a huge number of new trees while we're just burning and destroying them everywhere, releasing carbon at rates that are much higher than what new growth would take up."
The tree poaching problem started to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it goes beyond those who are felling trees to heat their homes and camps, according to the Nugget.
Some of it is seemingly done for "sport," while other people are selling the wood.
"I do think there are more trees being cut," Fields said. "What I'm seeing is large-diameter wildlife trees being cut. I've used the word thousands of trees. I don't think I'm exaggerating.
"... You're stealing from the community."
The disregard is not isolated. From the U.S. East Coast to the United Kingdom, people have been fined and sentenced to jail time for chopping trees, whether it was to improve their view or try to mitigate flooding.
To help prevent illegal felling, you can avoid buying firewood from poachers. Households following certain rules in and around the Sisters Ranger District are allowed to cut up to eight cords of wood per year. They must have a permit, which is free, and cannot sell the wood. Those who want to sell wood have to get a specific permit from a USFS office, the Nugget reported.
If you see someone cutting down a tree, do not confront them; contact the USFS. The same goes for coming across evidence of tree poaching: Record the location, date, and time, and contact officials.
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