By Pepper Fisher
TACOMA — The lead defendant in a scheme to illegally harvest maple trees from the Olympic National Forest that resulted in a massive forest fire three years ago was sentenced Monday to 20 months in prison.
39-year-old Justin Wilke was convicted in July of conspiracy, theft of public property, trafficking in unlawfully harvested timber, and other charges.
Court records show that in the summer of 2018, Wilke conducted an illegal logging operation in the Elk Lake area of the Olympic National Forest, near Hood Canal. Wilke and his crew stole Big Leaf Maple trees from the National Forest and sold the wood, prized for making musical instruments, to a mill in Tumwater. Wilke used forged permits to sell the wood.
In August of 2018, Wilke and two friends poured gasoline on a wasp nest at the base of a maple tree they intended to poach and lit it, which led to a forest fire that ultimately burned 3,300 acres and cost approximately $4.2 million to contain.
Prosecutors recommended a 3-year sentence. But at sentencing, Judge Benjamin Settle noted that Wilke had made positive strides while on pretrial release, and that prison time is more difficult during the COVID pandemic. Judge Settle therefore imposed the 20-month sentence.
Wilke was also ordered to forfeit the proceeds of his poaching and will be required to pay restitution to the US Forest Service. The exact amount will be determined at a later hearing.
One thing notable about Wilke’s trial was that it was the first use of tree DNA evidence in a federal criminal trial, which wound up being instrumental in Wilke’s conviction. Prosecutors were able to prove the wood Wilke sold came from trees on federal land.
(Dept. of Justice photo of wood poaching operation)