In April, Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture warned landowners about increases in tree poaching. It turns out hardwoods and softwoods aren’t much safer further north, either.
Forestry experts and officials in British Columbia are reporting increases in tree poaching in the wake of unprecedented lumber price surges, Kamloops This Week reports. Prices for softwood lumber in the area reached $1,600 for 1,000 board feet, compared with approximately $300 a year ago.
Tree theft can cause considerable environmental damage to forests, according to the report.
"These big trees, they're providers of a whole variety of ecosystem benefits in terms of the stability of the banks and riparian areas, the habitat for wildlife, including cavity nesting birds that need these larger trees,” a B.C. forestry official told Kamloops This Week.
