Burl Poachers targeting California's redwoods to feed drug habits

That's a shame, hopefully the authorities catch them. The funny thing is if the thieves worked half that hard at a real job they would make better money and not have to look over their shoulders all the time.
 
I read about that yesterday in my local newspaper and was thinking that I should not be buying any redwood burl at all,not knowing whether or not is has been poached.
 
Calvin Robinson said:
I read about that yesterday in my local newspaper and was thinking that I should not be buying any redwood burl at all,not knowing whether or not is has been poached.
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Hi Calvin, I was going to post something to this effect, only with a sarcastic smiley. I'm curious if you were serious or being funny. I honestly can't tell.

No offense intended at all. :)
 
Up here it is birds eye maple that get stolen. The worst part is the thieves hack the bark off dozens of trees, killing them to find one worth stealing.

I read about that yesterday in my local newspaper and was thinking that I should not be buying any redwood burl at all,not knowing whether or not is has been poached.
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I think the wood suppliers on here would be safe to buy from. The ones I have dealt with have shown they are contentious and honest, I would be shocked if one of them bought stolen wood willingly. Not to say they can't be fooled but up here the guys that steal wood have it sold before they go to the woods. I would think this is a similar situation. Without a buyer set up I would think it would be hard to sell stolen green burl, especially if your not a regular wood products supplier.
 
J. Doyle said:
Hi Calvin, I was going to post something to this effect, only with a sarcastic smiley. I'm curious if you were serious or being funny. I honestly can't tell.

No offense intended at all. :)
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No offense taken John.
Yes I am serious. The crime of tree poaching has been going on for a long time,one of these days I'll tell you how two men can steal a 100 foot tall cypress tree.:biggrin: Species that can be replanted and grown like any other crop does not concern me. I raise pine trees and sell them from time to time.
What bothers me is that they are harming old growth red wood trees,according to the article I read. And from what I know they are in more danger than elephants!
 
I see your point and I agree with what you're saying.......to some degree. :)

My problem is, where do we draw the line? I'm sure African Blackwood is harvested illegally. So should we stay away from Blackwood? Many rosewoods are harvested illegally. Should we not buy any rosewood? Even here in the states, most states require permits to cut trees but I'm sure maple burl has been harvested illegally. Should we not buy maple burl anymore? ;)

We could look at every single wood we use and somebody somewhere is harvesting it illegally. It's not a good reason to not buy a certain type of wood because some people will still aquire it illegally no matter what.

If someone wants to sell you some redwood burl but insist you meet them behind the old abandoned grain mill at 2 AM, I'd probably steer clear. But I have no issues buying wood from our reputable suppliers, regardless of species.

I'm not insensitive to the issue and don't think we should slash and burn our forests. Just offering my perspective on it.
 
We could look at every single wood we use and somebody somewhere is harvesting it illegally. It's not a good reason to not buy a certain type of wood because some people will still aquire it illegally no matter what
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I agree if there is anything of value someone will steal it. All we can do is buy wood from reputable sources. Knife handles would be more of a by product from burls like that, Veneer or large blocks for furniture would be the market.
 
First,
These people cutting burls on old growth Redwood trees should be punished to the full extent of the law and then some more for GP. Those trees belong to the people of the United States and are a living treasure to be protected and cherished If you have ever seen the General Sherman and others in King's Canyon you would agree.

http://www.nps.gov/seki/naturescience/sherman.htm

We all make our personal choices in life about what we will do and what we will not be apart of.

I for one won't buy any more Amboyna wood because people are stripping jungle areas of south east Asia for it and as far as I am concern, legal or not as soon as I use the few blocks I have left I am done with that wood.

I only buy from known dealers and I buy sustainable woods mostly these days like Maple. Ash, Bocote, Mango, & any other commercially grown woods and have them stabilized and some dyed.

Yes these woods can be stolen, but they are not endangered like the Giant Redwoods and others.

I may buy some more redwood from Mark because i trust that he knows what he is buying and how long ago it was cut.
 
The poachers, when caught, should be held accountable for their actions. The wood, when and if it is discovered, should be used rather than destroyed like the 6 tons of ivory the Government destroyed a few months back; which does nothing to stop poaching and permanently eliminates a scarce resource that could have been used responsibly.
 
I've been cautious about people in my neck of the woods selling ironwood logs to. Notthat I have a problem with people picking up dead fall. Here in vegas iron wood is everywhere but I guess its protected for a reason and would never buy any fresh logs that's for sure.

an armed society is a polite society
 
1st of all this article is what is called a filler piece. The incident took place 9 months ago. Apparently it was sensational enough that other newspapers decided to pick it up and run it in their newspapers as well.

This sort of thing has been going on for decades. In the 80s it was Madrone burl, in the 90s maple burl and these days anything that the thieves think they can sell.
I spoke to one of the dept of forestry officers when this happened.
He came here and showed me photos and asked if I could place an approximate value on the stolen wood.
It is obvious from the photos that the tree was cut by a tweaker. Probably with a stolen chain saw.
I explained to the ranger that nobody wants butchered chunks of green redwood. And from the looks of the photo it was probably not burl.
Most of the poaching is meth tweakers cutting 12 x 12 straight grain blocks that they sell to the bear carvers.

The main reason for any increased wood poaching is the lack of forestry workers patrolling the parks. ....and meth.
Those guys will strip out all the copper pipes and aluminum siding from mobile homes while people are at work.
When someone shows up here doing the meth zombie twitchy shuffle we run them off. If they have wood in their truck we call the sheriff because it is undoubtedly stolen.
 
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