[Blueflag]

1. The COE rangers here are sharp, and a couple grew up around here. They would know that 10 trees dying in one year ‘magically’ is not natural. They know to look for the copper nails, bark cuts, and herbicide damage.
2. Even dead trees, when downed, cannot be removed. Only by permit, and only to clear a designated path to the lake.
3. If you have a grandfathered grass cutting permit you can remove dead wood.

Net: don’t mess with national forest land. It’ll cost ya.

[fireman15]

Every time a certain neighbor has asked me to cut down trees on our property and I refused... the same trees mysteriously died within a few months. I have had to take out 2 dozen tall firs over the years. The last time I found the holes that he drilled through the bark to inject the poison. Do you think that our local authorities have any interest in this? Unfortunately not.

[Paul R.]

Heck, sometimes the Feds themselves can’t (or regs make it impractical to) “mess with” Fed land.