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Shelbyville, Tennessee ~ Wednesday, October 15, 2008
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Tree Rustling
Posted Tuesday, February 5, 2008, at 1:01 PM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
I had heard stories about this phenomena a few months ago from different states.
On January 30th and again on February 1st WSMV had stories about this. People in Murfreesboro have been having their trees stolen right out of their yards. In other states, this has become a fairly common occurrence. Thieves will come onto your land, clear your trees, and sell them to a saw mill. The Murfreesboro stories are a little different than what I've heard before because these trees were in people's yards. Obviously these trees weren't being grown for their lumber. Normally what these people will do is find someone's land that is mainly woods, trespass on the land, and steal the trees. If they are caught by someone, they generally just say that they were hired by one of the neighboring landowners and "accidentally" went beyond the boundaries of that land. Or if they're confronted by a neighbor, then they tell them that they've been hired by the landowner that they're stealing trees from. This may not sound like a big deal, but these people are stealing timber that has taken decades to grow and most states don't even consider it a real crime.
I just wanted to put this out there so that people in our area are aware of this and to keep an eye on their properties, especially if they have large parcels of woods that aren't regularly visited. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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My father used to own a farm in Maine that we never lived on, just used for summer vacation and for his hunting trips. It had a three story house and three barns.
Locals started stripping it and the sheriff even caught them at gunpoint and all they got was a $25 fine. They eventually got ALL the buildings!
To keep them from illegal lumbering, we met all the neighbors and gave permission to a hunting group to hunt the land. They all watch it pretty close.
We had it for over 40 years and nothing happened again. Might have something to do with the fact that the guys watching it all had guns, but.....
I think it's ironic that you should write this blog. Because just this past weekend some man, claiming he was from Lynchburg, came to my door. He wanted to know if we'd be interested in selling any timber off of our property. We live in Flat Creek and own alittle over 62 acres and it's mostly woods. I told him absolutely not! He wanted to know if it had ever been logged. But he was walking around out in my yard, after I had already told him no, like he owned the place, still looking around at our woods. It kinda freaked me out and I would suggest that everyone who does own property with timber to keep and eye out because they are looking. I know that alot of those people do sneak on your property and steal. I keep a close eye on mine and I will continue to do so.
Until I heard the stories over the past couple of months from the northwest, I didn't even know this was an issue. I suppose people will steal anything, including your trees, if you give them half a chance. I tend to agree with Steve, people with guns will deter most thieves.
My goodness! What is so wrong with earning money the honest, hard way. They are making 100% profit, I'm sure.
Maybe "No Trespassing" signs, or "Beware of Dog" signs might help?
Or Maybe get creative and make one of your own saying, "We have guns, and know how to use them." LoL
I am on the enviroments and land owners side!
Hey a Lynchburg TN man also came to my door a few weeks ago and wanted to know if I wanted to sell "standing timber" from our property. I told him I didn't want to sell any of my trees but ask for his card anyway.
Now, dad-burn-it, I guess I better be toting my shotgun and keep an eye out for tree thieves.
Hey daisy mae..........did he give you a card? Was he in a gold older model Maxima? Just checking to see if he was the same one that came to my door.
Hey jkelly I asked for his name and contact information. When someone comes to my door out of the blue asking about my property or my neighbor's property...well heck...I want to know WHO They Are! So he gave me his card. Yes I think it was a gold car but I couldn't say what make or model it was. This man was an older man approximately 6'2" tall, medium build, 60-70 yrs of age, gray hair, ballcap and overalls. Does that sound like the man who came to your door?
Yes, daisy mae............he also had a walking stick. Maybe he's legite....I tried to be nice to him, but when someone catches me off guard, I tend to be rude sometimes. Maybe he won't come back! Thanks!