by Mike Donoghue

BURLINGTON — A Windham County man is facing criminal charges that he illegally cut down at least 299 trees in Stratton that were part of the Green Mountain National Forest and were designated for protection, U.S. District Court records show.

Raymond Otto Tarbell, 66, of Townshend is due in federal court in Burlington on Wednesday to face 3 charges related to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Forest Service from the Manchester Ranger District about the unauthorized tree cutting in the town of Stratton.

USFS Special Agent Charles Brooks 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.”

Repeated attempts to reach Tarbell, who is a lifelong local resident that goes by “Otto,” were unsuccessful.

In 2012, Tarbell and Sarah J. Stark, paid $23,398 to the state of Vermont as part of a settlement for a heavy cut on property owned in Ferdinand in Essex County in the Northeast Kingdom, records show.  Investigation found that 59 acres of the parcel owned by Tarbell and Stark had been heavy cut contrary to their forest management plan, the Department of Environmental Conservation said.

The impacted area in the new case was estimated between 2 and 2 ½ acres and was likely cut during the winter of 2020-21, according to Timber Management Assistant Stacy Stratton.

Some of the cut trees were within 100 feet of a wetland and within 50 feet of a perennial stream when Brooks viewed the land with Forest Watershed Program Manager John McCann in November 2021.  The cutting also removed trees along the shoreline of a portion of the East Branch of the Deerfield River, reducing the forest canopy to nearly zero, Brooks reported.

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

The tree cutting was inconsistent with the guidelines contained in the Green Mountain National Forest Plan, Brooks said.

“The report further states that such improper tree cutting within the buffer zones can lead to severe adverse environmental impacts to the riparian ecosystem, including loss of fish habitat through reduced shading and an increased risk of erosion,” Brooks wrote.

He was initially due in federal court to face a criminal complaint on Nov. 14, but that date fell through and a new summons was issued, officials said.  In the meantime, three formal criminal charges were filed against him, records show.

Tarbell faces one count for cutting, removing and damaging trees in the Green Mountain National Forest between December 2020 and March 2021.  A second count maintains that also during that same time period he cut down a witness tree and a tree blazed to mark the line of a government survey. The final charge contends Tarbell willfully removed boundary monuments of a government survey.

Stratton land records show Tarbell owns 387 acres assessed at $176,900.  The current taxes are $2,136. 

The case began as a timber trespass complaint and that Tarbell, the adjacent property owner, admitted to taking the trees, Brooks wrote in his 8-page federal court affidavit.

Among the trees cut was one blazed with red paint to mark the boundary line of a government survey, Brooks said.

Colin Fisher, a law enforcement officer with the USFS, said he met with Tarbell and Orren Stygles, a logger who did timber harvesting for the defendant on July 29 to ask about the trees, Brooks said.  Tarbell said he had taken the trees down and believed the marked ownership boundary was incorrect.

“Tarbell said he had removed a USFS property boundary marking Carsonite post because he believed it was inaccurate.”

Later after USFS surveyor Stephen Grimaldi reported he had found a survey corner pin, Tarbell reportedly said if he had seen it, Fisher and Grimaldi never would have located it – giving the impression he would have removed it, Brooks wrote.

Brooks said he met with Tarbell at the site on Sept. 15, 2021 to discuss the boundary.  Despite the boundary being well marked with corner monuments, red tree paint, and an orange fiberglass Carsonite post, Tarbell maintained the line was incorrect, Brooks wrote.  Tarbell claimed it should have been further north based on the tax map for the town of Stratton, the investigator wrote.

Brooks said he examined the tax maps for Stratton filed for 1985 and 2021.  He said both indicate “This map is for assessment purposes only.”  They go on to say it is not for legal purposes, including for legal description or conveyance.

Brooks said Tarbell reported on Sept. 15, 2021 he did not like the marked corner boundary and that if the USFS didn’t remove them then he would do it himself.

The next day while visiting the site, Grimaldi discovered the corner boundary and a fiberglass boundary post that he personally set the previous day were missing, Brooks said.

Brooks said as he driving on Grout Pond Road on Oct. 26, 2021 he observed 10 yellow plastic signs nailed to trees on USFS land.  The signs on the east side of the road read, “Posted No Trespassing Private Property Hunting, Fishing, Trapping or Trespassing For Any Purpose is Strictly Forbidden  Violators Will Be Prosecuted.”

They also said: “Name: Tarbell  Address: Townshend, VT. 05353 09-15-21”

Forest service employees subsequently removed those posted signs, Brooks wrote.

Brooks said he visited the site Nov. 24, 2021 and photographer the stumps from the trees that were cut and removed.     He aid he walked south and “observed trees were harvested seamlessly along both sides of the road.”  He said the weathering of the stumps on USFS land and Tarbell nearby land were the same on both sides of the road.

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.

The national forest supports a wide range of wildlife, including moose, black bears, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, records show.  They also note the mountain side and waterfalls provide for hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, boating, swimming, bicycling, picnicking, nature viewing, scenic drives, skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding and other activities.

The 2012 case came to light as a result of the DEC inspection through the Use Value Appraisal Program, which allows for landowners to have their property appraised based on its value for forestry.

When the out-of-court settlement was reached, the Department of Forest, Parks, and Recreation also recommended the parcel be removed from the Use Value Appraisal Program, as required by statute. Tarbell and Stark sold the property and at the time of the closing, they also paid a Land Use Change Tax of $2,472 due to the removal of the parcel from the Use Value Appraisal Program, the DEC said at the time.