TACOMA — A long-time resident of Clallam County has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 30 days in prison for felling and stealing a big leaf maple on federal land near Olympic National Park, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.
Michael D. Welches, 63, pleaded guilty in October to depredation of government property for the timber theft that occurred in November 2013.
“These are very valuable trees and provide a great temptation,” U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan said at Friday’s sentencing hearing, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“People give into that temptation, but it’s not appropriate,” the judge said. “It’s just simple theft.”
The federal indictment alleged that Michael Welches, Matthew Hutto and Richard Welches fell and sectioned off a maple within the Elwha River restoration project area over six days in November 2013.
A receipt indicated the men had sold the wood to a Quilcene music wood supplier. Wood retrieved from that supplier matched the wood from the felled maple.
The value of the timber as music wood is estimated to be $8,766.
In a handwritten letter to the court, Welches expressed remorse for cutting the maple, saying he did not realize it was on federal land.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a two-month jail sentence while defense attorney Miriam Schwartz said in a sentencing memorandum that “defense submits there is no constructive purpose or benefit to a jail sentence in this case.”
According to records filed in the case, on Nov. 11, 2013, a neighbor of the Elwha restoration project lands notified the Park Service that he had heard chain saws in the middle of the night. The neighbor said he saw people in the woods wearing headlamps and reported similar activity a few nights later.
The ranger investigated in daylight and found a felled big leaf maple, records said. He asked the neighbor to call him directly if he heard or saw additional activity.
The neighbor reported hearing more chainsaws at 1 a.m. the next day, court papers said.
Law enforcement officers caught the trio cutting the felled tree, prosecutors said.
In asking that Welches serve prison time, prosecutors noted that in 2004 he was convicted of illegally cutting trees on state timber trust land.
A second defendant, Matthew Hutto, has pleaded guilty and is scheduled for sentencing next month. Richard Welches is being sought by law enforcement.
Michael Welches has worked in the wood industry since he graduated from Forks High School in 1972. He cut cedar shake in mills and cut and sold firewood for decades, his letter said.
He ran a landscaping business in Sequim for seven years until the housing market crash of 2008, after which time he returned to the shake and firewood business.
Welches said he had been trying to save money to pay a portion of his restitution at sentencing.
The case was investigated by the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andre Penalver.
