The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced Friday that the Skamania County Prosecutor's Office has filed documents charging local landowner Harvey Erickson and Dan Gustafson of A&B Rock Distributors, L.L.C. with first-degree theft.
The charges were filed because of their alleged criminal trespass on and theft of valuable materials from Washington State trust land at the end of Tote Road off the Washougal River Road in Skamania.
E. Thompson Reynolds, Superior Court Judge for Skamania and Klickitat counties, signed an order for a summons requiring the defendants to appear in court for arraignment on Aug. 17.
A civil claim will also be made against Tapani Underground, seeking to recover damages resulting from their alleged trespass and removal of rock. Unlike the other parties, Tapani does not appear to be criminally liable for trespass or theft.
"While in remote areas, it may be difficult to apprehend those who have removed resources belonging to the state's trusts, we really appreciate the fine work done by Skamania County in this matter," said Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland. "We are also grateful to the members of the neighborhood who became aware and notified us of this inappropriate removal. Many times we rely on the good citizens of the state to assist us because we can't be everywhere," he said.
Skamania County Assistant Prosecutor Adam Kick said, "The DNR investigation revealed repeated trespass and massive theft that had been ongoing for years. The damage to public land was substantial. Every citizen of Skamania County is a victim of this crime."
DNR Natural Resources Investigator Jim Russell investigated the trespass and theft from February until April of this year, under the direction of DNR Chief of Law Enforcement Services, Larry Raedel. Upon completion, the investigation was referred to the Skamania County Prosecutor's Office for action.
The investigation concluded that there was sufficient evidence to believe that criminal activity had been committed when state trust lands were entered illegally and when valuable material (rock) had been illegally removed. The investigation also stated that permitting procedures had been violated by A&B Rock and by Tapani Underground.
From June 2002 until October 2005, without proper authorization, A&B Rock Distributors extracted rock for commercial purposes from the Tote Road site, conducting unauthorized surface mining. This land is managed by the State Department of Natural Resources for the benefit of Skamania County.
Authorization to remove rock from state trust lands occurs only after a public sale and approval by the Board of Natural Resources, as required by RCW 79.15.300. Neither a public sale nor board approval took place in this situation.
A&B Rock Distributors trespassed onto these DNR-managed lands, exceeding the boundaries of property owned by Harvey Erickson, as detailed in a Rock Mining Lease between Erickson and A&B Rock. The lease contained a legal description of an area that has two distinct ownerships, neither of which is property owned by Erickson or anyone associated with A&B Rock.
In addition to the criminal trespass and theft of the rock, A&B Rock failed to secure the appropriate permits required by law to conduct surface mining activity.
Estimates place the value between approximately $700,000 and $1,700,000 for the total rock removed by both A&B Rock and Tapani Underground.
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