by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine A Windham County man is scheduled to go on trial in federal court this week on charges he illegally cut down at least 299 trees in Stratton that were designated for protection as part of the Green Mountain National Forest.
Raymond Otto Tarbell, 66, of Townshend has waived his right to a jury trial and will have his criminal case heard by Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle in Burlington.
Tarbell was linked in 2012 to an improper heavy cut on property owned in Ferdinand in Essex County in the Northeast Kingdom, records show. He and a partner paid more than $23,000 to the state of Vermont to help settle the case, Vermont Business Magazine reported at the time.
In the latest case, Tarbell has denied the 3 charges that were sparked by an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service from the Manchester Ranger District about the unauthorized tree cutting in the town of Stratton.
USFS Special Agent Charles Brooks said in court papers “299 merchantable trees were unlawfully harvested. Many small non-merchantable trees (an inch or less in diameter at breast height) were also cut, but not tallied.”
Tarbell initially pleaded not guilty in January 2024 to three charges, but they have since been amended as the case dragged on and the trial drew near.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher tweaked the charges against Tarbell to include the cutting, removing and damaging of trees in the Green Mountain National Forest between December 2020 and March 2021.
Drescher also charged Tarbell with two counts of willfully defacing, changing and removing a monument from a government survey. One removal charge claims it happened sometime between June 29, 2021 and September 15, 2021, while the charge for the second removal was a different marker and happened on Sept. 16, 2021, court records show.
Brooks, the criminal investigator, said he initially estimated the total loss at $959 based on bid prices paid for timber in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, but later was told the load delivered to a sawmill had a timber value of $2,167.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Aliberti has listed up to 10 possible witnesses, including Brooks of the Law Enforcement and Investigations Division of the USFS. The lone non-Forest Service witness listed is Kent Young from the town of Stratton, who has several municipal posts, including town clerk and planning commission chair.
Aliberti said the proper markers have been in place for licensed surveyors since at least 1921 and confirmed again in 1979, 1991 and 2021. The three recent Forest Service surveyors are expected to be called as witnesses. Tarbell does own adjoining property, but the trees were clearly cut on government land, Aliberti wrote.
Brattleboro lawyer John C. Mabie is defending Tarbell. Mabie said in a court filing he could call up to nine defense witnesses, including possibly the defendant. Joseph DiBernardo, a licensed surveyor and attorney Philip Boyle of Townshend, who knows the history of the land and boundaries, also are on the witness list, Mabie said.
Also on the list is Orren Styles of Townshend, who has logged with Tarbell since about 2016, court records note.
Tarbell maintains he has owned the property in dispute for more than 20 years, Mabie wrote.
Doyle has a final pre-trial hearing with the lawyers on Monday afternoon. The trial is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
When testimony ends, Doyle is expected to take the case under advisement and will file a written decision in the coming weeks.
Tarbell, who is a lifelong local resident that goes by "Otto," has been in trouble before over tree cutting, records show.
In 2012, Tarbell and Sarah J. Stark, paid $23,398 to the state of Vermont as part of a settlement for a heavy cut in Ferdinand in Essex County, records show.
Investigation found that 59 acres of the parcel owned by Tarbell and Stark had been heavy cut contrary to their forest management plan, the Department of Environmental Conservation said.
The impacted area in the new case was estimated between 2 and 2 ½ acres and was likely cut during the winter of 2020-21, Timber Management Assistant Stacy Stratton reported.
Some of the cut trees were within 100 feet of a wetland and within 50 feet of a perennial stream when Brooks viewed the land with Forest Watershed Program Manager John McCann in November 2021. The cutting also removed trees along the shoreline of a portion of the East Branch of the Deerfield River, reducing the forest canopy to nearly zero, Brooks reported.
The tree cutting was inconsistent with the guidelines contained in the Green Mountain National Forest Plan, Brooks said.
“The report further states that such improper tree cutting within the buffer zones can lead to severe adverse environmental impacts to the riparian ecosystem, including loss of fish habitat through reduced shading and an increased risk of erosion,” Brooks wrote.
Stratton town land records show Tarbell owns 387 acres assessed at $176,900. The taxes when first charged were $2,136.
The Green Mountain National Forest is an estimated 400,000 acres of federal land. Stratton Mountain at 3,940 feet is considered the 7th highest peak in Vermont.
The national forest supports a wide range of wildlife, including moose, black bears, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, records show. They also note the mountain side and waterfalls provide for hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, boating, swimming, bicycling, picnicking, nature viewing, scenic drives, skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding and other activities.
The 2012 case came to light as a result of the DEC inspection through the Use Value Appraisal Program, which allows for landowners to have their property appraised based on its value for forestry.
When the out-of-court settlement was reached in Essex County, the Department of Forest, Parks, and Recreation also recommended the parcel be removed from the Use Value Appraisal Program, as required by statute. Tarbell and Stark sold the property and at the time of the closing, they also paid a Land Use Change Tax of $2,472 due to the removal of the parcel from the Use Value Appraisal Program, the DEC said at the time.
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