Did you ever get heck from a C.O. or forestry officer for cutting trees?

[MichelD]

The other current discussion about C.O.s got me thinking.

I often cut alder, cottonwood or aspen saplings to make tripods and poles for improvised awnings with tarps over my tent, and for a cooking area, storage, etc.

The law says we not allowed to cut living trees and I avoid cutting live fir or pines that will grow into timber but seeing as I am in fact cutting living trees, could I get a ticket for it?

[Dannybuoy]

I haven't been or even heard of anyone being charged for that ..... different rules in parks and forestry sites I believe .

[Drillbit]

You should be getting a knock on the door any minute now......

[adriaticum]

In fact you should not be cutting live or young trees.

[caddisguy]

I have never heard of anyone being fined. They are more worried about guys falling trees for firewood without permits and in places where it is not permitted.

In Region 2 you can find most of this stuff on the ground for the purposes you described. It's possible--and perhaps more likely if you are in a Provincial park--but I doubt you would get fined for using the odd sappling.

[caddisguy]

but yeah what adriaticum said...

If you're having to cut sapplings regularly, either some other preparation of looking around for dead stuff should eliminate the need to be a sappling serial killer ;-P

[squamishhunter]

As long as it's not marketable timber, never heard of it being an issue.

[Mauser98]

In BC, all timber on Crown land is owned by the Govt and it is illegal to cut any, whether live, dead, standing or down, without some sort of authorization.

Realistically? Who cares? We cut a lot of beetle killed pine each year for use in our hunting camp. The last CO that visited our camp sat on a pine round and couldn't have cared less.

[happyhunter]

In BC, all timber on Crown land is owned by the Govt and it is illegal to cut any, whether live, dead, standing or down, without some sort of authorization.

Realistically? Who cares? We cut a lot of beetle killed pine each year for use in our hunting camp. The last CO that visited our camp sat on a pine round and couldn't have cared less.

The species the OP mentioned are hardly the type of "timber" the government cares about.

[Stresd]

I usually printout a "FREE" BC Ministry of Forests, firewood permit for the area I am heading into. Same as if you want to cut a christmas tree on a Hydro right of way. A free permit is available. I havn't seen them change from year to year just some areas have different permits. So it is not any one permit that covers all of BC

IE:
Cariboo
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dcc/PDF/Firewood-Permit-Exp-2014.pdf

Okanagan/Shuswap
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dos/dist_docs/Docs/Firewood%20FUP%202014%20(2).pdf

[Vladimir Poutine]

Forestry is much like DFO in my opinion. They set policy with a blindfold and a set of darts. We take dead trees of any size, any time. As long as we don't leave debris on roads or in ditches I see it as mine. Decked wood almost gets the same treatment. If all the machinery is gone and the logs are dead then we have at it. If we're really unsure it's not hard to track down the contractor to see what the score is. I can show anyone that wants to what can happen to decked wood where the message was"ooh, don't touch that wood, it's decked so it's off limits." Over 50 decks of dead pine that is now rotting and will never be used. I'll take my chances. I doubt that I will ever get a fine or anything else.

[thick]

Forestry is much like DFO in my opinion. They set policy with a blindfold and a set of darts. We take dead trees of any size, any time. As long as we don't leave debris on roads or in ditches I see it as mine. Decked wood almost gets the same treatment. If all the machinery is gone and the logs are dead then we have at it. If we're really unsure it's not hard to track down the contractor to see what the score is. I can show anyone that wants to what can happen to decked wood where the message was"ooh, don't touch that wood, it's decked so it's off limits." Over 50 decks of dead pine that is now rotting and will never be used. I'll take my chances. I doubt that I will ever get a fine or anything else.

Be careful cutting "dead trees of any size, any time".

Read section 8 of the attached permit for the OK-Shuswap.

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dos/dist_docs/Docs/Firewood%20FUP%202014%20(2).pdf

As a forester, we retain certain trees of certain sizes and species for wildlife as we are are required to by law. There is a reason trees over 40cm at dbh are not allowed to be cut under this permit.

You are probably right in saying "I doubt that I will ever get a fine or anything else" but as a hunter you should consider the wildlife values these trees of "any size, any time" have for the wildlife In the area you are cutting. Follow the guidelines in the permit and it's all good.

Not trying to be a dink but I am very disappointed in the number of dead wildlife trees that I have seen cut down this hunting season by people that are clearly not following the guidelines of the permit.

Also... Just because "all the machinery is gone and the logs are dead" does not make it yours either. Many self-loading logging trucks out there that come in to haul out odd ball loads or the last couple loads from a logging site that do not require any machinery to load them. Many decks also get left when contractors have to pull out due to break up and/or road restrictions. These loads will get hauled out a later date in most cases....

[M.Dean]

Hey, if anyone wants to cut live tree's down, come up here and cut the ones the tree planters planted about 10 years ago in all my favorite hunting area's!!! There all about 8 feet high now and I can't see a bloody thing because there so thick! Why they planted them a foot apart is well beyond me??? Oh, and if someone gives you shit for cutting tent poles or weenie sticks, maybe ask them why the logging company's can leave thousand upon thousands of very useable fir log's and push them in piles and burn the bloody wood so nobody can take it for firewood??? But nope, go after the honest tax payers, they pay there fines "Without" a court battle!!!

[Vladimir Poutine]

Mr. Thick, you are so correct about wildlife trees. We don't cut them as they are very obvious- either tagged or a honkin' big fir all on it's own in the middle of a block. Sad thing is that they sometimes don't survive as the wind will take them down. It's a matter of common sense as always. We generally only take pine as there is so much of it. Right now we are working on a spot where they are right beside the road on both sides. Level on both sides and so easy to fall. Checked to the middle and dry as a popcorn fart. If they were to start logging anywhere on this road they would have to be taken as danger trees and would end up in a burn pile.

[Big Lew]

When I'm out in the back country camping, I will only cut my firewood from downed dead trees. If I'm only making a overnight camp I try to camp where I can pick up dry dead branches, cutting or breaking them into usable pieces.
I've never had a permit or been hassled and I don't expect to be. I see places all the time where someone has cut
very large dead trees down only to take a small portion of it. I also frequently notice live coniferous trees cut down, ringed, or damaged even in recreational sites and campgrounds. People doing the latter should be the ones collecting fines.

[bownut]

What a joke, you can drive any of the FSR around the Okanagan during the late season and watch first hand the commercial wood cutters laying down green fir trees over 16. THe CO's or the timber cruisers need to get out there and get those A-holes. It's so sad to see quality trees hitting the dirt. My friends pick at all the left overs that they leave behind the following year and get their own winter supply. These guys are worst than Wolves, and they are still getting away with it. I wouldn't be worried about the odd sapling being removed when they are taking 1000$ trees.

[boxhitch]

What a joke, you can drive any of the FSR around the Okanagan during the late season and watch first hand the commercial wood cutters laying down green fir trees over 16. THe CO's or the timber cruisers need to get out there and get those A-holes. It's so sad to see quality trees hitting the dirt. My friends pick at all the left overs that they leave behind the following year and get their own winter supply. These guys are worst than Wolves, and they are still getting away with it. I wouldn't be worried about the odd sapling being removed when they are taking 1000$ trees.They get away with it as long as others turn a blind eye. No commercial cutters in 'my' area since I started taking pictures.

[Salty]

Don't think you're ever going to catch hell for cutting young deciduous trees (alder, poplar, cottonwood etc) of tent pole size unless you're in a park. Actually I drove about 2000 kms around BC recently with a half dozen evergreen 4 inch by 12 and 16 foot freshly cut tent poles on my roof, passed several COs and forestry trucks and not a second glance. Possibly not technically legal but not on anyone's radar either. I've done some comm thinning in the past I took them out of a pecker pole infestation so only did the forest a favour.