Government Fraud, for the people, by Texas A & M.
12-12-06
You asked us to tell you about the issues that concern us, I am not sure if this qualifies but it should because it is a prime example of how the backbone of Texas is stomped on by the government that has been elected to protect us. I was informed yesterday that I had lost my appeal at the Supreme Court in Washington DC. To have the motion for summary judgment overturned. This case would have benefited every one in the state of Texas who has timber on their property because it would have put a stop to the state governments intentional deceptive misleading willful and fraudulent timber appraisals. it would have forced them to do their job the right way. The law suite is against the texas forestry service and texas a&m university. The fact of the matter is, because of these two entities everyone in Texas who owns timber will be defrauded by them through the color of law. The question is when? The truth of the matter is the American way allows the state entities to lie cheat and steal your hard earned money from the sell of your trees with no questions asked because they have immunity from being helt accountable for their crimes. I lost my appeal because the attorney I hired to represent me took my money and then did nothing to benefit my case and me. I do not feel I should be held accountable for his incompetence when it was the state of Texas who gave him the license to practice, then advises me to hire a licensed attorney to represent me. I thought the constitution was written so the government would have to be helt accountable, but what do I know I’m just somebody who pays taxes, help put food in their mouths, clothes on there backs oh yah fuel in their jets. Where is my jet? If I am wrong then let it be proven in a court of law in front of 12 of my peers let the people decide if they want this kind of treatment for themselves and their love ones. Not a bunch of judges who do not have a clue to the meaning of standing for the people. My case has not been allowed to go to court period. I now must ask the texas forestry service why do you do your appraisal in a manor that only allows approximately $30.00 to $40.00 dollars per ton to the landowner when the logger is selling it to the mill for $65.00 to $85.00+ dollars per ton. Why want you do an investigation, pull the loggers contracts at the mills then most important now lesson up follow the paper trail known as mill tickets even when there is diversion. You do know how to investigate don’t you? Can you also ask yourself this question? Are you really doing the land owner a fair dollar value if you count stumps, miss no less than 35% of the total trees taken then slab the log (to make square so to speak) take the bark off cut it into board feet using the largest saw kerf then use the weight of 1000 feet of those boards to compare the weight of a tree to. (That’s 100 1X12X10’s, that’s a stack of boards approx. 8 feet high 12 inches wide and 10 feet long now go out side and look at your pine tree that’s 14 inches at the butt with 40 to 50 feet of log in it and you will see a tree that has less than 50 board feet you do the math.) Is that fair to the landowner. I do not think the state government should be allowed to get away with this. It appears to me the timber industry along with the texas forest service’s action hinges on organized crime. In addition, why do you condone timber theft through your actions of non-investigations only opinions of the value of the trees removed? Just my opinion but not all of the tools in your shed are very sharp when it comes to stopping timber thieves in Texas. I am going to aledge that the only thing that separates the timber thieves from the law enforcement division of the texas forest service, texas a&m university system is the immunity they have and that is it. Why dose the texas forest service have to be so chickenshit when it comes to a more accurate knowledge about appraising the true value of timber stolen either by deception or taking without the landowner’s knowledge. My issue is if I am a tax-paying citizen then why cant I have the same rights as the common criminal you know my day in court. A free lawyer would not be bad either.
What happen to our rights where did they go? Have we watered down the constitution so much that it no longer has validity over our life?
I do not understand, our constitution says we have a right to our day in court but the government says to hell with the constitution you will never get to court. What happen to my right to a jury trial? I pay my taxes, I am one of those fragments that make up the backbone of this great state and country, so why is it, rapist murders and so on get their day in court and free legal representation? This battle has cost me eight years of my life. Not to be vain but the last years of my youth and a moderate sum of money, where is my justice? Where was the judicial system when I need it? In addition, I am willing to pay to be there to prove my point. They to are on the side of the criminal under the color of law. I do not mind loosing if I am wrong just let me fight! do not tell me those sonsabitches win when they never stepped foot in the ring. Do not tell me I loose just because I showed up for the fight. It appears to me that the state of texas is a coward, a yellowbelly, chicken. want even fight a 5foot 2inch woman and that is wo-MAN to you tfs. Put a stop to timber theft and we the people will have money to send our children to collage with, money to pay our land taxes with, leave our children an inheritance, who knows maybe even retire. This dose not just effect me it also effects you to, if our government is allowed to get away with this, what else will it be allowed to get away with. The mentality of my thinking is if you are not going to do what I pay you to do then get the hell off my payroll and I will do it myself. No, I am not mad. I am pissed!!!!
I am a victim of timber theft once, a victim of the judicial system multiple times to many times to count. If a criminal is allowed justice, then were is mine.
I did not capitalize certain things because they deserve no respect from me.
Have you considered contacting Public Citizen at http://www.citizen.org/litigation/?
This is a public interest watchdog group originally founded by Ralph Nader that has earned notoriety for taking on Corporations and Government agencies alike. You might consider visiting their website, particularly their litigation section, and see it there is a match. Obviously, if Timber mills are selling lumber harvested from landowners for twice the price they are paying for the lumber, and if the price paid landowners is being depressed by arcane appraisal methods, the public interest would best be served by insuring that appraisal practices are on the up-and-up.
If you feel that the attorney involved failed to live up to your expectations, you have redress through the State Bar complaint process. It.s not easy to have an attorney sanctioned (come on, attorney’s overseeing other attorneys, what are the chances they’ll sanction one of their own?), but it can be done.
Timber Theft
Some forests getting hard to see for the thieves
In the movies, cattle rustlers always wore the black hats.
Many a Saturday movie matinee featured a “low-down, no-account” band of thieves who dared to pull off a cattle heist. Hot on their trail, the local sheriff and his deputies–in white hats, naturally–would chase down the bad guys and identify the stolen dogies by their distinctive brands.
Today, a new kind of rustling has hit East Texas-timber theft. While the cattle rustlers stole herds from unsuspecting farmers under the cover of night, today’s outlaws steal trees from absentee landowners in broad daylight.
East Texas has long been associated with the timber industry. In fact, the Piney Woods provides almost all of the state’s commercial timber–about 500,000 acres harvested a year at a value of almost $900 million. Timber is the No. 1 agricultural commodity in East Texas, and the forest industry is the leading source of manufacturing employment in the region. East Texas timber goes to make a variety of products: furniture, plywood and paper.
Statewide, timber is the ninth largest industry. As an agricultural commodity, timber ranks third in Texas behind cotton and cattle. For individual landowners, growing and selling pine, oak and hickory trees means thousands of dollars of income a year.
That’s why local residents and law enforcement officials are increasingly concerned over an outbreak of unethical loggers who cut down trees without permission, falsify bills of sale and scale readings, break contracts and ignore property lines.
Trouble in timberland: The daily stream of log-laden traffic on East Texas roads provides a convenient disguise for tree heists. According to the Texas Forest Service, thieves can easily cloak illegal timber cutting by simply blending in with the flow of legitimate logging operations within the 11.8 million acres of forest grown for commercial purposes.
While the vast majority of Texas loggers run reputable businesses, the encroachment of illegal loggers escalated more than two years ago after lumber prices in the southern U.S. reached new highs. Prices surged when reduced logging in other regions of the country upped demand. In recent years, strict federal rules have been imposed on government and private lands in California and the Pacific Northwest to protect endangered species. Also, devastating hurricanes triggered periodic runs on plywood.
The Texas Forest Service estimates timberland owners have lost millions of dollars to thieves, but the agency has no exact figures. Louisiana, with 13.8 million acres of forests, estimates that $12 million to $15 million of timber is lost annually to theft, and Oklahoma, with 7.5 million acres, sets its losses at $9 million a year.
Unlike branded cattle, stolen trees are hard to identify. Rarely are logs traced to a certain tract of land. Loggers caught on the wrong piece of property may blame poorly marked boundary lines. They may even offer to pay for the timber, but by then it is too late to accurately assess the value of the timber when it was standing, not to mention the damage to the land left scarred by tire ruts, fallen logs and trampled saplings.
The regional theft spree has hit private landowners, industry and even national forests.
The Texas Forest Service reports that absentee landowners are easy targets. About 7.2 million acres–almost two-thirds of East Texas timberland–are owned by non-industrial private landowners, and much of that land is isolated. Often the land has been passed down through generations, so current owners may reside in other areas of the state.
Timber thieves can identify absentee landowners through county tax records, say state forest officials. In one scheme, outlaw loggers phone absentee landowners to erroneously report their timber has been stolen and to offer cleaning up the mess for a fee. Thieves then use the clean-up contract to cut and steal the timber, duping the landowner into paying a logger to rob them.
Timber companies employ elaborate security devices on their lands, even resorting to hidden cameras. But with massive land holdings, the companies still lose trees from their most isolated sites.
Even national forests have been targeted. In 1995, 11 East Texas men were charged in federal district court with stealing and/or selling timber from the Sabine National Forest, east of Nacogdoches. Investigators estimated the illegally harvested timber was worth $175,000.
Timber theft has touched almost every county in East Texas, say state foresters, who received 50 to 60 reports of timber theft last year. In one case, a trespasser stole most of the trees off a 160-acre tract of land in Cass County. Only trees lining the perimeter of the property were left standing, which prevented anyone driving by from noticing the clear-cut land.
In another case, a single logger has been charged with stealing from 40 to 50 timberland owners in Texas and Louisiana. Value estimates on those combined timber thefts reach as high as $1 million.
The Texas Forestry Association, representing about 3,200 members, offers a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of anyone involved in timber theft. If criminal intent is proved, felons in Texas face up to two years probation for a theft valued under $20,000, and two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for a theft valued at more than $20,000.
Lowering the boom: Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma have passed laws to crack down on timber thievery. Oklahoma, for example, now requires that property owners clearly mark their property lines and notify neighbors when planning to cut timber; loggers must show a bill of sale to the mill validating where the timber was cut; and convicted felons have to pay the victim three to 10 times the value of the stolen timber.
While such laws might deter some theft, they still won’t protect landowners who make uninformed decisions.
The Texas Forest Service, in cooperation with county tax appraisal districts, has issued cautionary guidelines to timberland owners who plan to harvest their lands: use a professional forester, clearly mark and measure all trees included in the sale, get several bids, check loggers’ references, have a written contract and, above all, keep an eye on the property in person or through a neighbor.
Meanwhile, timber prices have stabilized for now, judging by the early months of 1996. Contributing to the price drop was this year’s dry winter, which allowed sawmills to overstock, thus temporarily increasing supplies. But even with the recent drop in prices, timber theft in Texas continues to provide high financial rewards and few threats of penalty.
Contributing to this article:
Colin Strother
Vona Van Cleef Said:
I am from Southesat Texas, and I see timber theft accure all the time. It appears to be an every day occurence for our landowners. The mentality of our law enforcement is If you won’t to do the crime and not the time then come to Houston county state of texas.
I totally agree that a reform is in order for timber theft. We have talked with Mike Hamilton our State Represenatitive to try and get new laws passed to make it tougher on the logging industry and the mills. First, the laws for the actual theft need to be revised! I agree that we have to have a definite paper trail and the mills need to crack down on the loggers paperwork. A new system needs to be designed to better serve the landowner (VICTIM) when a case is brought forward. Too many times with timber theft you can’t find an experienced individual who has the knowledge to help with a case and the District Attorney has a hard time due to the inabilty to produce adequate evidence. These cases are extremely time consuming and costly. When you are talking about a large sum of land and stump counting you are talking about wading through snake infested, mosquito swarming, muddy land that not many attorneys or investigators are willing to tackle. Most timber thefts occur in Rural areas where funds are limited and the Court System has to go in order or priority and timber theft is low on the pole. I understand the victim feels they are violated and want action NOW, but it just does not happen that way. Many times the victim has to do their own leg work and hire experienced individuals in this field to help their case. When their cases are heard unless you are knowledgeable in this industry it sounds like foreign matter and half the people in the courtroom do not understand what the calculations are and the actual value of the loss. And if what you say is true regarding The Texas Forest Service, that’s scary because they are called on many times for their expertise. Maybe you need to apply with their service and teach them the proper way to appraise and value timber. It would be great to have an actual victim of timber theft that is knowledgeable in the field join forces with the Texas Forest Service and start turning things around for Texas landowners. Maybe we all need to contact the Texas Forest Service and let them know about the services your organization offers and the plethora of knowledge you can bring to their table.
I live in Southeast Texas and I know that timber theft is one of the largest everyday crimes for our area. It is a shame that our government will not help us keep this in check. I wonder are they taking pay-offs. and if not dose this mean that they are just chicken-shit after all. I am with you lets put a stop to the Texas A&M University and their joke of law enforcrment stealing our trees and money.
I live in Southeast Texas I am in the heart of the timber belt of Texas and what you speak of is true I have friends who have had timber theft and you are right The Texas Forest Service helps cover-up these crimes. Lets stand up for our rights as a property owner and put a stop to the organized crime with-in the logging world of the pine growing belt of Texas.
The solution isn’t to make it tougher on loggers or the mills! The solution is to make it easier and more beneficial to comply with the laws that regulate logging. Make it tougher on those who still can’t follow the laws. Mandatory jail sentences, asset forfeiture of both commercial and personal assets (ill-gotten gains) of businesses and employee’s who participate at any level of timber theft. Prosecute builders and merchants who “sell or use” stolen timber. Develop an agency program for identifying, certifying and labeling legally harvested timber, and acess penalties on mills, manufacturers and builders who cannot produce proof that the wood they are using was legally harvested. When construction permits and inspections are issued, make it part of the process that builders show proof that the wood they are using was legally harvested. The technology necessary to end timber theft is already available, and there is no shortage of Texas state government employee’s sitting on their ass doing nothing, so the costs and inconvenience should be minimal.
It a nutshell, make using legally harvested wood the easiest, most cost effective way of doing business, and punish the crap out of anybody who can’t follow the rules! If anyone in Texas see’s or suspect that timber theft is occuring, and doesn’t make an effort to report it to the police or the property owner, they are themselves complicit in the crime of timber theft.
I do agree with tougher laws. My mother passed away this year and I just found out that all of her timber was stolen in East Texas and the lady that ownes the land next to hers was also stolen. Do I have any idea of who might have stolen it… sure! But, can I prove it..No! So, I feel for everyone that goes through this situation and we should get togeher to make tougher laws and punish the crap out of anybody who can’t follow the Texas laws.