Legal Problems for Man Who Had His Neighbor's Trees Cut Down

[dennishoddy]

Not all easements are owned by the government; I don’t have any numbers, but I’d actually guess that most easements are between private parties. Utility companies have easements on private property, oil and gas pipeline owners have easements for their pipelines to cross property and for maintenance access, and other property owners can have access easements to be able to access landlocked parcels.

My place doesn’t have any pipelines, but ONG has an easement along my frontage, and the guy who owns the parcel behind mine has an easement along my south property line. The only government easement is the frontage where the section road runs—my property line is actually the centerline of the road with (IIRC) a 33’ permanent easement.

On two different farms we have there are 9 pipeline easement’s.
I can still plant crops over the easement’s and if left to a pasture it has to be maintained and kept free of trees by agreement in the contracts.
Nice mail box money.

 

[C_Hallbert]

Oklahoma Law
Section 16-60 - Wrongful injuries to timber - Criminal penaltiesA.1. Any person who intentionally, willfully, maliciously, or unlawfully enters upon the lands of another to cut down, injure, remove, or destroy any timber valued at more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), without the permission of the owner or the owner's representative shall be guilty, upon conviction, of a felony, punishable by the imposition of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for not more than five (5) years, or both.

Better think twice…..

 

[THAT Gurl]

Oklahoma Law
Section 16-60 - Wrongful injuries to timber - Criminal penaltiesA.1. Any person who intentionally, willfully, maliciously, or unlawfully enters upon the lands of another to cut down, injure, remove, or destroy any timber valued at more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), without the permission of the owner or the owner's representative shall be guilty, upon conviction, of a felony, punishable by the imposition of a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for not more than five (5) years, or both.

Better think twice…..

I would never. Once things escalate to the level of the type of injuries I have the lawyers can handle it. I've seen enough "OMG they thought it was okay to do that" cases in my life that I'm not interested in ****ing myself over just to get proper ... Well ... Justice ...

While I clearly do not agree with the generally commonly accepted principal that the neighbors are not responsible for any damages their tree has caused, I am certainly not one to be so stupid as to wind up on the six o'clock news as the breaking news story of the night.

Like I said above, and many times previously ...

The lawyers can handle it.

ETA: But your post brings up an interesting point. The statute states, and I quote "... [E]nters upon the lands of another ..." So ...

What if a person "could" "... injure ... or destroy ..." said tree from their side of the property line?? (Yes, I already know the answer to this question, I think, without having to do any research and I'm not gonna do anything to deliberately cause damage to said tree but this kind of mental gymnastics is how people wind up in court.)

Hell, I don't own a dangerous tree ... Nor have I done any mental gymnastics ... And I'm STILL involved in a case ... Sigh ...

 

[C_Hallbert]

There are times when a charges for breaking a law as stringent as this can be very appropriate. I’ve read of cases where people came home to find their 200 year old walnut tree cut down for valuable lumber and the roots dug up.