How did an anonymous tip, DNA evidence and a century-old conservation law help the Forest Service take down a gang of maple poachers? In this episode of West Obsessed, High Country News Editor-in-chief Brian Calvert and Publisher Paul Larmer bring HCN correspondent Ben Goldfarb into the studio to talk about his recent feature on an illegal timber-poaching gang in Washington. 

“West Obsessed” is an occasional audio series produced in collaboration with KVNF community radio in Paonia, Colorado, where the editors and writers of High Country News discuss stories about the American West and why they matter. Subscribe to the podcast on: Google Play, iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher

Read More

Busting the tree ring

Who’s cutting illegal ski trails in the Santa Fe National Forest?

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Our articles are available for republishing, but images are only available on a case-by-case basis. You can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request illustrations and photography for specific stories. Republishing guidelines

• Credit the author and High Country News - We prefer Author Name, High Country News at the byline.  At the top of the story, if on the web, please include this text and link: “This story was originally published by High Country News.”
• Check the image requirements - Images that are clearly marked CC or from federal agencies are in the creative commons and are available for republishing. Outside of this, you can’t republish photographs or illustrations without written permission from High Country News and/or the photographer. Please reach out to syndication@hcn.org to request more information.
• Don’t change anything significant - Articles must be republished in their entirety. Revisions for house style or references to time (“yesterday” to “today”) are allowed. If larger revisions are necessary, including significant trims or an editor’s note, contact us at syndication@hcn.org to get approval for the change ahead of republishing.
• Share on social media - When sharing on social tag High Country News in your post and note the story is from @highcountrynews
  • Twitter: @highcountrynews 
  • Instagram: @highcountrynews
  • TikTok: @highcountrynews
  • Facebook: @highcountrynews
  • LinkedIn: High Country News
• Stay in touch - Let us know you republished the story. Send a link to syndication@hcn.org once you’ve republished the story and let us know how it’s resonating with your readers.

West Obsessed: How Forest Service agents busted a maple-poaching gang

by Brian Calvert, High Country News
March 27, 2017

<h1>West Obsessed: How Forest Service agents busted a maple-poaching gang</h1> <p class="byline">by Brian Calvert, High Country News <br />March 27, 2017</p> <p><span><span>How did an anonymous tip, DNA evidence and a century-old conservation law help the Forest Service take down a gang of maple poachers? </span>In this episode of West Obsessed, </span><em>High Country News</em><span>&nbsp;Editor-in-chief Brian Calvert and Publisher Paul Larmer bring <em>HCN&nbsp;</em>correspondent Ben Goldfarb into the studio to talk about his recent feature on an&nbsp;<span>illegal timber-poaching gang in Washington.&nbsp;</span></span></p> </p> <p><em>“West Obsessed” is an occasional audio series produced in collaboration with&nbsp;<a href="http://kvnf.org/" title="" target="_blank" class="external-link" rel="noopener">KVNF community radio</a>&nbsp;in Paonia, Colorado, where the editors and writers of High Country News discuss stories about the American West and why they matter.&nbsp;Subscribe to the podcast on:&nbsp;<span class="discreet"><a href="https://goo.gl/app/playmusic?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Id6g2cgtik4lfkfskikdxuy3ajq?t%3DHigh_Country_News%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://goo.gl/app/playmusic?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Id6g2cgtik4lfkfskikdxuy3ajq?t%3DHigh_Country_News%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Play</a>,&nbsp;</span><span class="discreet"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/highcountrynews/id1175014107?mt=2" target="_blank" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/highcountrynews/id1175014107?mt=2" rel="noopener">iTunes</a>,&nbsp;</span><span class="discreet"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/west-obsessed" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://soundcloud.com/west-obsessed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soundcloud</a>,&nbsp;</span><span class="discreet"><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=124020&amp;refid=stpr" target="_blank" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=124020&amp;refid=stpr" rel="noopener">Stitcher</a></span></em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/articles/west-obsessed-timber-poaching-gang-foiled/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=98196&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/articles/west-obsessed-timber-poaching-gang-foiled/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

1