Wood thefts in the both counties’ West Ends are similar to other drug-addiction driven crimes in the Puget Sound, say authorities, where another valuable material is being ripped off.
“In Seattle they’re stealing copper wire and copper pipe. Out here, they’re stealing cedar,” said Randy Messenbrink, who was brought out of retirement from the state Department of Natural Resources last winter to help to track down wood thieves.
Said Seth Brock, a logging supervisor with Rayonier, “Mostly, it’s just people who just have a hard time finding legitimate work and don’t mind crossing the line.
“It’s hard work and a lot of these guys, they’re doing it at night, and meth turns them into workaholics.”
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Julie Dalzell said the addicts “often don’t know what they’re doing. There’s a lot of waste.”
In one of the Jefferson County cases handled by Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Gulmert, the thieves left “thousands of dollars of tools around,” Dalzell said, “they were so anxious to get the stuff to market.”
“They’re not too focused,” she said.
Law enforcement authorities seized the equipment.
Not all cedar rustlers are so incompetent.
“There are professional timber thieves out there who are not addicted to drugs and who we’re not catching,” said Dalzell
“They go in and find a beautiful cedar tree, cut it down, and nobody’s the wiser. There’s nothing there to tell us who, what, when or where.”
