Rural Crime: Timber Theft

Many urbanites don't know that there is such a thing as "timber theft" or that trees not only have significant value as a commodity, but can be relatively easy to steal. Jamestown-area Assemblyman William Parment has long been a backer of legislation to stiffen the penalties, including sponsoring the legislation mentioned in the article linked above. Prior to the 2004 amendment, which I also worked on tangentially from the private sector, the last amendment was in the early 1900s and capped the recovery by the owner at something like $10 per tree. For reference, individual trees can have a value in the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.