Virginia Forest Watch was successful in moving a bill through the Virginia legislature that will help protect landowners from timber theft. HB 1020 was sponsored by Fairfax delegate James Dillard and was merged with a similar bill put in by Terry Kilgore of Gate City.

Timber theft has become a major problem across the state. It primarily consist of loggers crossing property boundaries and cutting timber on adjacent land. It also includes taking more timber from the landowner than was agreed to.

This bill, which will increase the penalty for such acts, provides that: “any person who cuts, removes, or severs any timber from the land of another without legal right or permission shall be liable to the rightful owner for treble damages, reforestation costs, the costs of ascertaining the value of the lumber and legal costs against.” It also “establishes criminal penalties for the theft of timber, and specifies prima facie evidence of an intent to take, steal or remove timber.”