About a week ago I hear someone across the road running a chainsaw. I assumed it was on the neighbor's property to the north of mine over there and didn't think much else about it. Coming home this afternoon and driving by I notice a flat bed truck parked awful close to my property and as I get closer I see a man with a chainsaw cutting up some down trees the power company dropped last year. I stop next to where he's working and he is clearly on my land, cutting up trees which were on my property and loading them into his truck.
Decision time.
I parked, got out and asked if he was working for the power company or the subcontracted tree service. He said that he wasn't, that he heated his home with and sold firewood. I mentioned that it wasn't his wood and he just looked at me. He said he knew a couple of the contractors who'd dropped the trees and they told him the trees were just laying here. I explained that he hadn't provided an explanation about it not being his wood to take and he just looked at me again. I could tell he wasn't sure where this was going and I'll admit I was tempted to get heated but I decided not to.
I told him he was free to take what he wanted on a couple of conditions. One that he leave the place in better shape than he found it and two that he not throw anything, and I reiterated anything into the creek. He agreed and I left him to his work. He's actually doing me a favor, the area looks better now than it did before he started so he's saving me a pile of work and getting rid of wood I don't need to include a 4.5' diameter, 25' long hunk of cottonwood that I can neither cut up nor move with my equipment. Hopefully I made him uneasy enough to think about asking permission before he does it again but thats on him.
Decision time.
I parked, got out and asked if he was working for the power company or the subcontracted tree service. He said that he wasn't, that he heated his home with and sold firewood. I mentioned that it wasn't his wood and he just looked at me. He said he knew a couple of the contractors who'd dropped the trees and they told him the trees were just laying here. I explained that he hadn't provided an explanation about it not being his wood to take and he just looked at me again. I could tell he wasn't sure where this was going and I'll admit I was tempted to get heated but I decided not to.
I told him he was free to take what he wanted on a couple of conditions. One that he leave the place in better shape than he found it and two that he not throw anything, and I reiterated anything into the creek. He agreed and I left him to his work. He's actually doing me a favor, the area looks better now than it did before he started so he's saving me a pile of work and getting rid of wood I don't need to include a 4.5' diameter, 25' long hunk of cottonwood that I can neither cut up nor move with my equipment. Hopefully I made him uneasy enough to think about asking permission before he does it again but thats on him.