Tree poaching is a growing issue in the Pacific Northwest. Thieves have consistently targeted public lands and national forests in Washington, California and Oregon, High Country News reported in 2017. The thefts cost the U.S. Forest Service about $100 million per year.
With the strict rules in mind, Wilke, 39, and Williams, 49, often scouted for trees at night, according to the indictment. From April to August of 2018, the men ventured into the forest, used an ax to peel back the bark and inspected the patterned wood underneath.
“After identifying maples with figured wood, Wilke and others used a chain saw to fell the targeted maples,” court documents said. “Wilke and others cut the trees into smaller rounds or blocks, which they removed from the national forest.”
The group would take the wood to a private property nearby and prepare it for sale to a mill in Tumwater, Wash. They’d then present the business with forged paperwork showing that they harvested the maples from private land.
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