Ashland loggers plead guilty to unauthorized tree cutting

PRESQUE ISLE – Two northern Maine loggers pleaded guilty this week to cutting trees without the landowner’s permission.

Michael Avery, 42, and Rene J. Morrow, 28, both of Ashland, entered the pleas Wednesday in 2nd District Court in Presque Isle, according to the Maine Forest Service.

The men each were fined $250 and ordered to pay a total of $2,425 in restitution to the landowner.

The men approached the landowner in June about harvesting her woodlot in Ashland, according to Ranger Steve Wipperman of Masardis. The landowner said she would allow a timber harvest only by written contract.

Soon after being contacted, the landowner learned that a harvest on her property had begun before any contract was established.

Wipperman investigated the complaint on July 1 and issued both Avery and Morrow a summons for unlawful cutting of trees. He also confiscated 42 trees.

The Maine Forest Service recommends a written contract be in place before any timber harvest and that a licensed forester be involved.