# Redwood burls under attack by drug addicts



## Foot Patrol (Mar 7, 2014)

Found this article on Fox News yesterday. While I love redwood burl, this is the type of actions we should all be concerned about. http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/06/burl-poachers-threaten-majestic-redwoods-in-california/

Reactions: Like 1 | +Karma 1 | Informative 1


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## Mike1950 (Mar 7, 2014)

I saw that article. By the size of the cut out on that tree those were well equipped drug addicts???? Strong also- that was a huge chunk of wood to move around.

Reactions: Agree 4


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## barry richardson (Mar 7, 2014)

Id say it was stolen by wood addicts Hopefully our California members can account for their whereabouts during the time of this theft...

Reactions: Funny 7


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## ripjack13 (Mar 7, 2014)

I've been there. It is truely an awe inspiring forest. I can't believe people would do this. It is just mind bogglingly ridiculous. Sad. Sad. Sad.


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## manbuckwal (Mar 7, 2014)

@barry richardson

Reactions: Funny 2


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## PhoenixWoodDesigns (Mar 7, 2014)

I too, saw this article. My initial response was more like Barry's! lol. In all seriousness though, if you're buying protected wood -- you should always try to verify its origins. 

I hit this wall a lot buying exotics. There are many burl poachers in Africa and China (and Chinese poachers IN Africa,) that poach these protected species to sell at the higher market prices. You may not always be able to verify with 100% certainty, but if someone is selling very green wood on a species that's been on SITES as a prohibited harvest for the last 5 years... you should probably have some additional questions for the seller.

Reactions: Informative 3


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## Mike1950 (Mar 7, 2014)

Same thing is happening in our state with the Big leaf. It is being stolen off of private and public lands. Personally I doubt that it is druggies. Just plain ol garden variety low life scumbag thief's.............. The big leaf I get has been processed and dried- now the checks and balances at the mills??????? I have no clue.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## JR Custom Calls (Mar 7, 2014)

The opening line bothers me. Since when did Florida give up their motto to California?


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## PhoenixWoodDesigns (Mar 7, 2014)

JR Custom Calls said:


> The opening line bothers me. Since when did Florida give up their motto to California?



LOL good catch! We're still the only Sunshine State that I'm aware of! California is supposed to be the Golden State.


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## TimR (Mar 7, 2014)

Scumbags. Visited the Muir Woods last spring, just nothing short of magnificent. Makes me cringe thinking how selfish/ignorant someone can be with a priceless natural treasure.


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## Kevin (Mar 7, 2014)

I subscribe to several online Hawaiian news sites and can tell you that Koa trees have been getting stolen on TBI since the early 2000s and still do today - and I mean on a regular basis. I remember reading an article last year about a bunch of young koa trees that were stolen from a high school - and the articke said the trees were like 30 years old or something. there's no way they could have been curly yet and if so only slightly. But the idiot thieves probably didn't know that - they probably figured all koa is worth a fortune just like people here have a walnut tree i their yard and think they're going to retire when they sell it. 

It's not surprising that the Redwoods are being targeted by west coast thieves. I'm sure walnut trees and other valuable trees have been hit also but those headlines don't illicit the same emotional draw from readers that "California Redwoods Mysteriously Uprooted" do.

Reactions: Like 1


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## bench1holio (Mar 7, 2014)

Happens over here a lot also, and youd be supprised whose doing it.
I know of a very well known burl supplier from the east coast,who supplies a lot of stores in the US being caught out on propertys he wasn't meant to be cutting on!!

I read this article a few months ago and was pretty shocked, it would take some big stones to rip this one off..
http://www.colliemail.com.au/story/2007806/ancient-jarrah-tree-stolen-from-collie/?cs=1443


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## Kevin (Mar 7, 2014)

And just another thought, I doubt that "drug addicts" are the only ones stealing valuable wood; thieves are thieves no matter their motivation whether it be drugs, greed, or just good 'ol boy hoarders. Of course when we take wood without permission it's not theft, we're just taking custody of it to keep the thieves from getting it.


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## DKMD (Mar 7, 2014)

bench1holio said:


> Happens over here a lot also, and youd be supprised whose doing it.
> I know of a very well known burl supplier from the east coast,who supplies a lot of stores in the US being caught out on propertys he wasn't meant to be cutting on!!
> 
> I read this article a few months ago and was pretty shocked, it would take some big stones to rip this one off..
> http://www.colliemail.com.au/story/2007806/ancient-jarrah-tree-stolen-from-collie/?cs=1443


That's equally awful, Ben. I'm guessing the Aussie thieves were stronger than the US redwood bandits... Wet jarrah has got to be a lot heavier than wet redwood!


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## bench1holio (Mar 7, 2014)

They may be drug addicts stupid enough to go and steal the wood, but you can bet there is a mill or supplier telling them that they will move the timber for them

Reactions: Agree 2


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## bench1holio (Mar 7, 2014)

Doc, im sure aussie thieves ARE stronger than US thieves .....But they would have needed a crane/forklift of some sort to move those 8' wide jarrah slabs, theyd have to weigh over 300 kg each wet!!
Id say it was a pretty well organized and thought out


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## brown down (Mar 8, 2014)

times must be bad when people start selling timber on the black market. 

It takes a special breed of scum to do that! absolute zero regard for this planet.


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## Sprung (Mar 8, 2014)

I think we've all probably seen burls and gone, "Oh, I wish I could have that!", but to actually go and steal them, and especially to do damage like that and show so much disrespect, that's just awful...


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## Mike1950 (Mar 8, 2014)

brown down said:


> times must be bad when people start selling timber on the black market.
> 
> It takes a special breed of scum to do that! absolute zero regard for this planet.




there have Been timber thief's for a long time. Just stooping to new lows- stealing all of our wood out of parks.


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## SDB777 (Mar 8, 2014)

JR Custom Calls said:


> The opening line bothers me. Since when did Florida give up their motto to California?



You must remember, the local article writer now-a-days is only working with a 4th grade reading level and was probably given many awards for just showing up to the classroom. That said, there are a lot of idiots that get to make articles.




Kevin said:


> And just another thought, I doubt that "drug addicts" are the only ones stealing valuable wood; thieves are thieves no matter their motivation whether it be drugs, greed, or just good 'ol boy hoarders. Of course when we take wood without permission it's not theft, we're just taking custody of it to keep the thieves from getting it.



I wouldn't think 'drugs' had too much to do with this.... Making a quick 'greenback' is more likely the case. Someone whacked out on drugs running a big bar chainsaw is something begging for a million views on YouTube(think of the kids lighting themselves on fire here).
I can't imagine the thought of stealing timber, especially when there is so much readily available? Almost would make me a little worried to be purchasing Redwood Burl.... 





bench1holio said:


> They may be drug addicts stupid enough to go and steal the wood, but you can bet there is a mill or supplier telling them that they will move the timber for them



As a mill owner, there is no way I can verify every piece of timber that comes onto my property. Being in Arkansas, I don't think we have any timber that is on the list? But now I'm going to have to do a search and find out for sure.....crapola, another thing to keep me occupied.





Scott (seems there are 'turds' everywhere) B

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Nature Man (Mar 8, 2014)

Not sure many druggies would go through all the work to turn trees into money -- too hard for most of them. Chuck

Reactions: Agree 5


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## indonesianwood (Mar 9, 2014)

thats must be very big of burl..
the case of stolen tree is happen too here.
51.972 m²/Day of forest is destroyed.
we have guinnes world of record for the most deforestation ever..
and we sale very-very cheap timber to china..


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## Kevin (Mar 9, 2014)

indonesianwood said:


> thats must be very big of burl..
> the case of stolen tree is happen too here.
> 51.972 m²/Day of forest is destroyed.
> we have guinnes world of record for the most deforestation ever..
> and we sale very-very cheap timber to china..



It's a sad state of affairs over there with the Chinese buying it at giveway prices. It would be hard for me not to want to take a tree or two knowing foreigners were essentially stealing/raping the forest of my homeland.


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## Treecycle Hardwoods (Mar 18, 2014)

I was approached 3-4 years back by a sheriff's officer about potentially stolen logs. I was doing business with a guy they were suspecting of taking logs from land he was hired to maintain. After that I put together a contract for the sale of logs. When I asked the guy to verify the source of the logs and sign the contract which said he was the rightful owner and had authority to transfer ownership to me. After he read it he didn't want to sell me the logs he brought. Within a month afterwards he was found dead by suicide. I learned after the fact that he had a long hard fall. His wife a daughter died in a car accident 10 years prior and alcohol/drugs fubared his life after that. He just happened to be in the tree care business.


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## shadetree_1 (Mar 18, 2014)

Kevin said:


> It's a sad state of affairs over there with the Chinese buying it at giveway prices. It would be hard for me not to want to take a tree or two knowing foreigners were essentially stealing/raping the forest of my homeland.


 
We are having that problem right here in AZ, I know of a guy in Sacramento that is paying people here in Az to sell him pallets of DIW stolen from public and private land and he is selling it to China! I've tried to stop it but I'm just a little fish in a big pond and his money talks louder than I do! I guess wood theft is not all that high on the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office list of things to stop!


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## Kevin (Mar 18, 2014)

What do the Chinese want with DIW I wonder? Are they just buying every stick of wood they can? I know they were building humongous ghost cities but surely that's stopped by now. What on earth are they buying all this wood for?


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