Monson logger pleads guilty to theft

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — A Monson logger pled guilty to four charges of timber theft in Piscataquis County District Court in Dover-Foxcroft last week.
    According to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Jason Smith, age 46, of Monson was charged after an investigation conducted by Maine Forest Rangers revealed that he failed to pay an out-of-state landowner for four loads of wood that were part of a larger harvest conducted by Smith in Blanchard last year.

    In the complaint, forest rangers charged Smith with failure to pay for wood harvested and theft by unauthorized taking.
    “The landowner was suspicious that he might not be getting paid for all the wood harvested from his lot and called the Maine Forest Service’s Division of Forest Protection,” according to Forest Ranger Jon Blackstone. “Maine law requires that payment and a scale slip of the wood sold be given to the landowner within 45 days.”
    The charges resulted in $1,250 in fines plus restitution to the land owner for the wood harvested. The fine amounts were elevated due to the extensive history Smith has with this type of violation.
    Smith was also ordered by the court to provide the Maine Forest Service with a weekly record of all the wood he harvests commercially for the next year, Blackstone said.
     “We always recommend that landowners have a written contract with the person harvesting the wood,” Blackstone added. “We also encourage landowners who are not familiar with the timber business to utilize the services of a licensed professional forester.”