Illegal tree overcutting.

[P-1]

So....my new neighbor hired some people to cut and clear trees. They apparently helped themselves to our trees as well. We have 43 acres and they cut about 6-7 acres of it. Maybe more. It is about 1400 plus trees by their count and they destroyed the wetlands in the front part of the property. The tree lanes go through the front and sides to the back part. No privacy where the future house will go. Which was the intention....privacy!!!

They made a small offer and am considering a lawyer. The offer is minimal considering I should at least the value of what they took. There are no trespass signs all over and they took some of those trees.

Anyone have this happen to them or no somebody of similar occurrence?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff
P-1

 

[Dave29461]

Get the Lawyer. The wetlands could come back to bite you if you don't address it now and make them responsible. No need for 'No Trespassing' signs for logging. They should have had a plat and the lines marked before they cut the first tree. Tear them a new one so they don't make that mistake again. Smile as you do it and get fair market value plus damages to the lot, view, wetlands and your blood pressure. There is no erxcuse for this.
Dave

 

[thehammer69]

Not sure what the law allows for in South Carolina, but in NC, if you inadvertently cut and harvest another land owners trees, they owe you THREE times the value.

 

[thebrasilian]

I've known a couple of people that had this happen to them. Go get the lawyer. Especially with the wetland.

 

[Schultz]

I'm with the rest hire lawyer. I have 11 acres here and had two acres cleared for a pasture a couple years ago. The guys who did the work asked repeatedly about the property line saying if they went over it it meant law suit and heavy fines depending on what the area was.

 

[P-1]

Thanks guys.

 

[SuperChuck]

I've heard treble damages (3x) for trespassing and cutting trees from SC loggers I know as well.. have to have the stumps surveyed/counted, to bring charges..

The loggers/tree company should have established the property lines properly, in order to do their jobs properly.

By making an offer, they've already explicitly admitted guilt, and are trying to get out of it cheap. A 6 acre mistake is more like "better to ask forgiveness than permission" situation, hoping you'd be happy with the offer figuring that in this economy a little cash might make the problem go away.

Any rutting, etc is probably also covered in the rules.. basically they trespassed and stole trees while damaging your property. That sounds harsh, but its their responsibility to KNOW the land they are allowed to log, and thats all they can touch.

You are entitled to well above the face value of the trees, for those very reasons..



SC

Not sure what the law allows for in South Carolina, but in NC, if you inadvertently cut and harvest another land owners trees, they owe you THREE times the value.

 

[P-1]

Thanks super. That is how I feel. We are trying to go for replacing the the property to its original condition before they came in to it. Somewhere between my amount and theirs there has to be a resolution. 3x does not cut it for me. Thanks for the input.

 

[fiundagner]

Lawyer time. and make sure that the settlement covers not only the value of the trees, damages, and etc, (including replacement cost and cleanup cost) but that they explicitly admit guilt for the wetlands damage. The epa loves to come down on private parties that cant afford to pay 10000$ a day damages while waiting for a court date the EPA sets, if they even set one. The EPA has no requirement to allow private citizens to challenge its ruleings.

 

[P-1]

They have already admitted guilt on the wetlands. The even said that it is ok in sc to take away from wetlands. It is true in farming trees, but now it is damaged.

I was unclear what you mean on the EPA. Thanks