Since the U.S. Forest Service disbanded its special
timber-theft task force nearly a year ago, investigations of
large-scale timber theft have ground to a halt. That’s the
conclusion of Unindicted Co-Conspirator, a report by the nonprofit
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the
Governmental Accountability Project (GAP), a Washington, D.C.-based
group that protects government whistle-blowers. The PEER/GAP report
helped put timber theft back on the media’s radar screen. The Los
Angeles Times subsequently printed a front-page story on one
stalled investigation profiled in the report, the “Rodeo” case. It
alleged that Weyerhaeuser Co. stole millions of dollars’ worth of
timber – some 32,000 healthy green trees a month – from four
national forests in California and Oregon over five years. After
Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas abolished the task force, the
case sat in a locked storage unit for 10 months. Says Jeff DeBonis,
executive director of PEER, “His actions seem calculated to ensure
that the investigation was never completed.” Weyerhaeuser officials
responded to the Times article by launching an internal
investigation of the allegations. DeBonis adds that a March audit
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General –
obtained by PEER through a Freedom of Information Act request –
concludes that the agency lacks an adequate theft prevention
program.
For a copy of the report, send $5 to
PEER, 2001 S. Street N.W., Suite 570, Washington, DC 20009-1125
(202/265-PEER).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Still stealing trees.
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