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LenVT t1_j21a66w wrote

Well. We have 122 acres in Franklin County. It’s fairly isolated. 95 acres are forested and we only post a 15 acre wood lot and the signs are ripped down almost as fast as we replace them. We’ve had game cameras vandalized/stolen. In the past few years in walking through we found 3 unmarked deer stands along with a total of two construction bags worth of trash, bottles, and cans we toted out. Sometimes I stop snowmobiles racing around in the hayfield. Last year I stopped some guys who cut down maples on the edge of the property. They had already cut and loaded their truck. Don’t even ask me about the trash people have dumped. It’s freaking discouraging.

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c_l_who OP t1_j21bnao wrote

We've had almost all of those problems. It's so discouraging.

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sugarplummed t1_j21l1b3 wrote

Sounds awful.

I keep thinking of Pat from UK Ghosts saying to them "What is WRONG with you?"

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xcskier_hunter t1_j21hhvo wrote

If you have any cell service then cellular game cameras would be a good option for protecting against and catching these people. They're much more difficult to steal and you'll know exactly when someone is trespassing.

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betcaro t1_j21wq2u wrote

they cut down your trees? is this not stealing -- and they can't figure this out? Not to mention all of the other abuses...

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noparticularpoint t1_j226wzx wrote

Statutory damages for timber theft are 3x the value of the wood taken. Go after them.

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TheShandyMan t1_j228pd1 wrote

Yeah but timber isn't worth jack squat - you might be able to recoup enough to cover legal fees if you can actually manage to collect on the judgement. "Decorative" trees however can bring big money depending on type, location and age.

The difference being, a tree in the woods is only considered worth whatever it would be in lumber value. Last I saw, split hardwood was going for around $300/cd - roughly 3 14" dia trees; whereas a decorative one has to account for "replacement" cost of a like tree being brought in. So if you have a big 100yo Maple in your front yard cut down, a similarly sized one would need to be brought in to replace it. Since this is not only insanely expensive (big equipment for big trees, then finding a suitable "donor" tree) but also highly likely to fail (a big tree like that isn't likely to survive the moving and transplanting), it's "base" value is much higher; so once the treble damages kick in, you can see judgements in the 6 figures pretty quick with just a few trees.

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Dire88 t1_j22axyg wrote

>The difference being, a tree in the woods is only considered worth whatever it would be in lumber value.

Well, it depends. If it is an active sugarbush, or it can be proven it was purchased/maintained with intent to use as a future sugarbush, you can include agricultural losses in the damages.

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