By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A pair of south Lewis County men are scheduled for trial next week for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars of old growth timber out of the National Forest from spotted owl habitat.
Troy S. McClure, 45, of Winlock, and George M. Catlin, 52, of Toledo, are each charged with first-degree possession of stolen property.
The men were arrested last summer when they were spotted driving a flatbed truck carrying a load of large old growth fir on U.S. Highway 12 . Mangled green Forest Service tags were attached to the timber, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court in April.
Both McClure and Catlin have pleaded not guilty.
The men are alleged to have removed dozens of cords of wood from an area south of Randle in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest between April and July of last year.
Lewis County Prosecutor Michael Golden said most of the violations of this kind his office comes across aren’t of this high value.
“This case is unusual in its scope,” Golden said.
No one is claiming the men cut down old growth trees, but the allegation is they removed timber from areas designated as so-called late successional reserves for the endangered owl.
Kristie Miller, the ranger for the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District which includes much of East Lewis County, says they do allow members of the public to collect a certain amount of firewood from the National Forest with a permit, but almost never offer up any old growth timber.
“And there’s places where we never let anybody take anything,” Miller said on Monday.
Sections of National Forest land are designated in various ways, including some available for tree harvest and others identified as developing into old growth stands, for example, according to Miller.
Over the last decade or two, science has shown that trees and parts of trees laying around on the ground are valuable for the eco-system, Miller said.
“It’s not just the spotted owl, it’s a whole lot of species,” Miller said, that depend upon having old-growth type structure around them.
Charging documents in the case indicate that in late April 2009, a National Forest law enforcement officer was notified by a state trooper about a large Ford flatbed truck with a load of old growth. Over the following three months, there were multiple citizen reports of the truck hauling large loads of the fir, the documents allege.
Charging documents filed in the Chehalis court on April 9 and April 13 go on to give the following account:
That June, the officer came upon the vehicle parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot, filled with fir and a “for sale” sign was attached. He took pictures with a camera phone.
On July 6 of last year, Officer Ron Malamphy was eastbound on U.S. Highway 12 when he saw the truck, again filled with wood, and with the assistance of a state trooper, the two occupants were arrested.
Prosecutors Golden’s office alleges that between witness statements, admissions from the men and and a check in the area where the two said they had been working, more than 100 cords of wood valued at more than $13,000 were stolen.
McClure had an active permit, but it only allowed for a maximum of of six cords per year from designated areas, according to charging documents.
Centralia attorney Don Blair has been appointed to represent McClure and Chehalis lawyer Chris Baum is appointed to represent Catlin.
The trial is expected to last two days.
Miller says she doesn’t know details of this particular case, but each year they do have several incidents in her district in which people take wood illegally. A person might do it just once or twice though, she said.
“I think it happens more than I know,” she said, adding the area – of more than 575,000 acres – only has two law enforcement officers.
She attributes some of it to the public just not knowing they need a permit.
A permit is required anytime anyone gathers and removes anything off National Forest land, except a personal use amount of huckleberries.
Foresters do set aside wood for firewood in certain areas, but the general public is not allowed to just cut down trees, according to Miller
People can get even get permits for such things as salal, bear grass and even “cool rocks” for their garden.
Permits can be obtained by visiting the Randle office of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Miller recommends if a person is coming from far away, they phone first to make sure the particular permit is available and find out the office hours.
The office can be found at 10024 U.S. Highway 12 in Randle and reached by calling 360-497-1100.
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