Arkansas – A 46-year-old Arkansas man has admitted that he illegally removed or damaged more than two dozen trees from a Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri.
Jamie Edmondson pleaded guilty Monday to depredation of government property. Edmondson admitted that he did not have permission when he cut and removed 27 white oak and walnut trees from the forest in Barry County, Missouri, between June 1, 2019, and Jan. 31, 2020.
Edmondson sold the timber to various sawmills in the area. According to court documents the timber was worth at least $20,269, and that the ecological damage value of the trees cut from the national forest and the damage remediation costs to the U.S. Forest Service from his actions within the national forest are at least $44,414.
