TREE THIEVES
Thousands of white birches have been poached from the Northwoods
Brazen thieves armed with axes and chainsaws are plundering parks, forests and private land in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Their prey? White birch trees.
Thousands of trees have disappeared since last fall, stripped branches and stumps left behind at the crime scenes as the beautiful trees are sold to decorate homes and businesses and grace wedding tables.
“It appears to be all market-driven,” said Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warden David Zebro. “The ornamental market people are paying a lot of money for these types of birch trees. We didn’t see this type of issue a year or two ago, but it’s certainly here now.”
Some birch poachers have been nabbed. Five arrests were made in Washburn County over the winter, including a man who admitted to authorities that he was in the area to illegally cut down birch trees but decided instead to break into a cabin and steal a generator.
“We found out these people are not (discriminatory). They’ll steal anything,” said Washburn County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Richter. “We’ve had people say ‘we didn’t know there was anything wrong with it.’ Some said ‘we’re just logging, what’s the problem?’ Well, they don’t own the property, that’s the problem.”
Since Washburn County, as well as other rural counties in northwest Wisconsin, is populated with many summer cabins, it’s likely more thefts of birch will be reported when owners open their cottages for the season. Many of the birch thefts are happening in county parks and forests as well as state and federal forestland.
It’s become such a problem the DNR held a meeting in Spooner for law enforcement agencies, county foresters and others.
Most of the stolen trees were two- to six inches in diameter, relatively easy to cut down and throw in the back of a pickup truck or van and speed away. And unlike a stolen laptop, there are no serial numbers and no way to prove a pile of bundled birch trees is stolen goods.
It’s legal to harvest trees in Wisconsin by property owners or people who get permits. But no one is giving permission to take these white birch, and they’re leaving behind clear cut areas where hundreds of trees once stood straight and tall.
Three areas in Ashland County Forest have been cut down, including one area where 168 birch trees were cut and another where about 300 trees were nabbed.
“But those are the ones that were reported. We might get more once foresters get out and make closer examinations,” said Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan.
In one sense birch is the new black — it’s very trendy now. Birch poles are stuck in pots for decoration in malls and hotels, especially around Christmas. Many stores use birch in window displays, home interior designers incorporate birch in their rustic designs, and brides and wedding planners use birch for floral displays and trellises among other uses.
“I think a lot of people these days are more natural and environmentally friendly and they like using natural products,” said Sandra Bartelt, president of Dodgevillebased Walnut Hollow, the leading woodcraft manufacturer for the craft and hobby industry in the United States.
Walnut Hollow works with carefully vetted local suppliers of wood products and sells to stores like Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.
Winter Woods in Glidden sells raw and custom packaged birch products to craft stores, floral design businesses and other retailers. Birch is big now, said Winter Woods manager Ed Schmocker, who has noticed birch poles and other birch products on the sets of recent TV shows and movies.
“It’s a smooth bark. It looks clean and it doesn’t look like dirt being brought into your house,” said Schmocker, whose company buys birch from local harvesters. “It’s been a problem as far as people taking things they shouldn’t. We tell them if they transport the birch they either need a permit or a letter from the landowner.”
While birch thieves can get hundreds of dollars for the stolen trees, there are also environmental costs. Birch trees are home to a variety of species. Brown creepers love to build nests in birch bark crevices. When birch trees fall over, salamanders like to hide underneath because the bark creates a micro-climate for them, said Colleen Matula, a DNR forest ecologist based in Ashland. Many animals, from rodents to birds, use the bark as nesting material and sometimes deer and elk browse on them when nothing else is available to eat.
Birch trees like to grow in sandier soils and are a fireoriented species, usually among the first flora to rise up from clear-cut and burned areas because of their light, tiny seeds. They’re a fastgrowing tree that typically only lives to 40 to 60 years. The range of birch trees is roughly the top third of the state.
“There’s such a demand right now. It’s been overnight,” said Matula. “Now the rush is on to harvest as much as you can before it leafs out and the sap flows.”