If a neighbor, landscaper, or contractor wrongfully or mistakenly cuts down your trees, shrubs, or vegetation, Oregon statutes provide that you are entitled to recover double the amount it costs to replace and restore the damage if it was done negligently, and triple the amount it costs to repair or restore the damage if it was done intentionally.
The type of lawsuit for such damage is known as a timber trespass action. The law applies to damage to ornamental trees and plants in a homeowner’s yard as well as to investment timber properties. Our office has represented both homeowners and timber investors in timber trespass cases.
A homeowner whose landscape trees, shrubs, and vegetation have been destroyed usually does not understand just how costly it is to restore the landscape. A mature tree is hard to restore and replace. There are nurseries that sell big trees. The cost the tree, delivery, and planting can be substantial. Our office works with professional consulting landscape experts to calculate replacement and restoration costs.
Timber Trespass — Past Case Example #1
C.C. had a single family home in Vancouver, Washington. A tree removal company was hired to remove a tree at a house located down the street from C.C.’s house. While C.C. was at work, the tree removal company topped, delimbed, and cut the Douglas fir, leaving an unsightly 40-foot high trunk. C.C. retained our firm and we recovered an amount three times the ornamental value of her tree (far in excess of timber value) and her costs in bringing suit.
Timber Trespass — Past Case Example #2
Wheeler County Fire. Our office represented over a dozen landowners whose homes, timber, orchards, and farmland were damaged by a fire. A logging company had been engaged in logging in August in Wheeler County, Oregon. A fire broke out from the area of the logging. Hundreds of acres were burned and destroyed. Our firm represented the private landowners whose acreage was destroyed in an action against the logging company and timber company. After extensive court battles, discovery, and depositions, the case was resolved in a court-conducted mediation. Our firm worked with numerous different experts concerning timber values and diminished land values. As the acreage included numerous homes with landscapes, as well, we also dealt extensively with the ornamental value of the trees.
Timber Trespass — Past Case Example #3
Mr. McDougal has even represented himself in a timber trespass case. Mr. McDougal lives in S.W. Portland and had purchased a house that had a yard with numerous fruit trees. The trees provided great privacy, but needed to be thinned. Mark and Natalie McDougal went out with a tree consultant and painstakingly marked the trees that were to be thinned to allow the remaining trees to thrive. The crew that was sent cut down every single fruit tree, rather than simply the ones that had been marked. The tree cutting company’s insurance company would not agree to replace the wrongly cut down fruit trees. Thereafter, Mr. McDougal sued the tree cutting company and obtained a very favorable settlement.