With the mill price for a black cherry tree currently at $850 per thousand board feet, sugar maple at $475 per thousand board feet and red oak at $380 per thousand board feet, timber theft is a lucrative and rising business across the nation. New York State recently released a report, “Timber Thieves in New York,” based on an April 2008 symposium to address this issue. Advocates call for criminal charges to be levied against perpetrators of timber theft, and refer to States around the country that deal with similar issues. Louisiana has a central database to help law enforcement catch their timber thieves.
Read the report here.
Use The Crime Report for more information on Organized Crime .