A judge has ordered a lumber company in Moravia to pay the state more than $25,000 after finding it had cut down dozens of trees in Stephens State Forest in Lucas County.
The order against Moravia Hardwoods says the company is also banned from buying timber for one year after its owner lied to the state on a bond renewal application. Attorney General Tom Miller says his office worked with the Department of Natural Resources to figure the value of the trees.
He says private landowners sold to Moravia Hardwoods the rights to harvest timber on their property, which abuts the Chariton Unit of Stephens State Forest back in 2013. One of the loggers testified he cut only trees marked by the company but discovered he was cutting on state land and informed Moravia.
A forestry expert found that 131 trees, mostly white and red oak and black walnut, were cut in the state forest worth $25,718.