PAL wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 1:43 pm
I totally agree with you on the tree cutting incident. I seem to remember some reporting in the paper. So the pilot did not reveal the other sites? Why didn't he. You said he took the fall. Did someone threaten him?
no, NCH did not report additional unauthorized cut sites during the law enforcement investigation of the first unauthorized and illegal cutting site. During the late summer of 2012, the same year as the initial cut site was discovered, the public discovered other white bark pine trees destroyed at other unauthorised heli- Landing sites.
I asked that those sites be investigated by law enforcement just the same as the first discovered site was where the pilot received a warning ticket.
I fully expected that investigation to happen and more tickets issued for those responsible.
The FS chose to handle the new cut sites solely as a permit violation issue. The NCH permit was placed on probation for five years as a result. They also had to pay close to $6,000 in restitution cost to restore the area. The Forest Service placed the value of old growth whitebark pine trees at $100, which is the same cost as a nursery pine tree.
When asked who did the cutting at those new sites, the FS repeatedly told us that the owners were taking responsibility for the actions of pilot, but would not disclose who did the cutting.
That's why I say the pilot took the fall. From what I witnessed, three of the cut sites that were discovered did not have a spot capable of Landing a helicopter prior to the cuts.
Did the pilot leave a multi million-dollar machine on a narrow high mountain Ridge while he snow shoed or skied a half mile away to do the cutting? Seems unlikely.
We will never know because no law enforcement investigation was completed on the additional sites and no report is available to the public.
It is against the law to cut down White Bark Pine trees both here and in Canada. A similar incident occurred at a resort in Canada where white bark pine trees are listed as endangered. That Canadian Resort received a multimillion-dollar fine.
In the US apparently holding a special-use permit shields a Corporation from the law.
So is the public treated differently than corporations holding special use permits in our national forest?
Didn't some folks cutting willow trees while holding a survival course up the twisp river receive a $40,000 fine? Wasn't there a complete law enforcement investigation and wasn't there an undercover officer embedded in the survival course. (I don't remember the facts of that case).
So should Mr.Cramer receive anything more than a warning ticket for his actions? I think not.