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Ten acres of timber from the Monongahela National Forest near Slaty Fork has been stolen, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.
The civil complaint charges John Fox and Fox Logging, LLC, of Valley Bend, with trespassing and taking nearly $28,000 of mature trees.
U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld’s office investigated a complaint in the case and filed suit this week.
“We do not believe this was an innocent mistake. What we believe is that he was just adjacent to the national forest. He observed large, healthy and valuable trees, and decided to take advantage of being deep in the forest, in an area that’s hard to get to, and timber 10 additional acres,” Ihlenfeld said.
He also said the secret logging was done in a destructive manner that can harm wildlife and the public.
“There’s a greater impact than just the removal of 100-year-old trees. It causes sediment to run off and go into streams, and ultimately impacts the wildlife that are found in those streams,” Ihlenfeld added.
Many of the trees cut down were estimated to be 100 years old – not easy to replace or repair the damage. But any punitive damages collected from the case could be used toward restoration efforts.
