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March 12, 2011

Hopson authors House Bill aimed to prosecute timber thieves

Tim Monzingo Jacksonville Daily Progress

JACKSONVILLE — A bill being introduced in the House of Representatives is intended to fight a crime that, in some cases, is committed in broad daylight.

House Bill 612, authored by Rep. (R) Chuck Hopson, is designed to increase penalties for timber theft and accidental harvesting.

“We have timber stolen pretty regularly in East Texas,” Hopson said. “The way things are now, it’s the (value) of the timber harvested times three (for a fine) and that’s the current law.”

Hopson wrote the legislation at the request of the Texas Forest Association and the Texas Forest Service and because timber is a vital piece of the region’s economy.

 Much timber land is owned by absentee owners, he said, which makes it easier and safer for thieves to illegally harvest because evidence is often long gone by the time the crime is noticed.

Hopson said the theft is not always confined to private land, though.

“We even have timber stolen off the state right-of-ways on the highways,” he said. “They’ll bring their trucks in there sometimes, put out the orange cones, put their helmets on, put their vests on, go out there right beside the road, (and) cut the timber for several miles sometimes. They look very official — they’ve got trucks, they’ve got cones, they’ve got helmets.”

James Houser, a consulting forester in Jacksonville, said timber theft has been in decline because of efforts by the Texas Forest Service and local district attorneys, but tougher charges will benefit prosecutors.

“One reason Chuck is helping us on this bill is to help district attorneys (who) were having some problems with the wording. It did not actually state that it was a crime,” Houser said. “This is to modify it to give the district attorneys a little more power and clarification to help us in those.”

Houser said the bill is designed to fight not only blatant stealing, but accidental harvesting, which may occur when loggers unintentionally cross property lines.

“We may not claim it as timber theft, but if it was unauthorized harvest of a tract, it’s subject to those penalties,” he said. “It’s mostly trying to eliminate timber theft or timber by accident.”

Hopson said by increasing the penalties from fines, which don’t cover property damages, to felonies, he hopes timber thieves will think twice before they cut.

“We wanted to put more penalty on there as a deterrent to keep people from stealing timber,” he said. “(The bill) really is good for us.”

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