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Forestry chair worries fines are not sufficient to deter theft of trees in hard-to-prove cases 4:33 pm, May 5, 2021 ×
Small birch trees are being harvested from Douglas County forest lands illegally, county officials say. (Bob King / 2012 file / Duluth News Tribune)
The Douglas County Forest has become a crime scene as thieves harvest birch saplings to smuggle out of the woods to sell for decorations.
Tips from area residents helped the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office catch one accused thief in the act.
Joshua Dewey-Dale Taylor, 27, of Solon Springs, was cited for cutting, harvesting and removing forest products without a permit and operating a motor vehicle on forestry land off a developed road or trail when Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jake Engelman observed him cutting birch illegally with an electric saw.