By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First

BURLINGTON — A federal judge has ruled federal prosecutors failed to prove a Windham County man, who cut down about 300 trees, did it in an area designated for protection as part of the Green Mountain National Forest.

Raymond Otto Tarbell, 67, of Townshend went on criminal trial before Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle in Burlington a year ago after waiving his right to a jury trial.

After the three-day trial and much subsequent legal sparring and document filing by lawyers, Doyle issued a 24-page ruling this month indicating the government failed to show the trees were within the boundaries of government land in Stratton.

There was considerable testimony concerning the different maps and surveys that were introduced as exhibits during the trial.

Tarbell is a logger who owns land neighboring on the Green Mountain National Forest in Stratton.  Doyle noted it was undisputed that Tarbell harvested about 300 trees in 2021.  The issue was the boundary.

“The government asserts the harvest was unlawful because it was undertaken without authorization on the Green Mountain National Forest. Mr. Tarbell takes the position that he did nothing unlawful because the trees were on his own land. The government further alleges that, in the months after the timber harvest, Mr. Tarbell defaced or removed a monument or bench mark of a government survey in an apparent effort to assert his disagreement with the government’s claim of ownership,’’ Doyle said.

Brattleboro defense lawyer John C. Mabie represented Tarbell, who had maintained his innocence.

Tarbell, who is a lifelong local resident that goes by “Otto,” pleaded not guilty to cutting, removing and damaging of trees in the Green Mountain National Forest between December 2020 and March 2021.

He also denied two criminal counts of willfully defacing, changing and removing a monument from a government survey.  One removal charge claimed it happened sometime between June 29, 2021 and September 15, 2021, while the charge for the second removal was a different marker and happened on Sept. 16, 2021, court charges claimed.

The trial had been planned for two days, but the government needed an extra day to provide three rebuttal witnesses after the defense rested its case.

In the end the government witnesses were: retired U.S. Forest Service Surveyor George Butts; retired U.S. Forest Service Survey Technician Greg Schutt; retired U.S. Forest Service Land Surveyor Nancy Iwanicki; retired Forestry Technician Frank Thompson; U.S. Forest Service Recreation Technician Raymond Finan; U.S. Forest Service Timber Management Specialist Stacy Stratton; Forestry Technician Jonathan Fuller; U.S. Forest Service Surveyor Stephen Grimaldi; U.S. Forest Service Special Agent Charles Brooks; U.S. Forest Service Geographic Information Specialist Joy Phelan; Stratton Town Clerk Kent Young; and Stratton 911 Coordinator Candice Bernard.

Mabie,  who cross-examined the government witnesses extensively, called three defense witnesses: David Van Vleck, Jr., whose family owned the property for over 30 years before selling to Tarbell; retired Stratton Road Foreman Ralph Staib; and Land Surveyor Joseph DiBernardo.

Doyle gave the defense 14 days to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law once the trial transcripts were available to the lawyers.

The prosecution had seven days to respond to the defense’s submission, Doyle ruled.

Tarbell pleaded not guilty to 3 charges stemming from the investigation conducted by the U.S. Forest Service from the Manchester Ranger District.

Brooks, the USFS Special Agent said in court papers “299 merchantable trees were unlawfully harvested.  Many small non-merchantable trees (an inch or less in diameter at breast height) were also cut, but not tallied.”

The criminal investigator said he initially estimated the total loss at $959 based on bid prices paid for timber in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, but later was told the load delivered to a sawmill had a timber value of $2,167.

The impacted forest area was estimated between 2 and 2 ½ acres and was likely cut during the winter of 2020-21, records show.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Aliberti took the lead on the prosecution.

The Green Mountain National Forest is an estimated 400,000 acres of federal land.  Stratton Mountain at 3,940 feet is considered the 7^th highest peak in Vermont.