The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 13 : Crimes and Criminal Procedure

Chapter 077 : Trees and Plants

• § 3606. Trespass; civil action

  (a) In addition to any other civil liability or criminal penalty allowed by law, if a person cuts down, fells, destroys, removes, injures, damages, or carries away any timber placed or growing for any use or purpose whatsoever, or forest products standing, lying, or growing belonging to another person, without permission from the owner of the timber or forest product, or cuts out, alters, or defaces the mark of a log or other valuable forest product, the party injured may recover of such person, in an action on this statute, treble damages for the value of the timber or forest product, and any damage caused to the land or improvements thereon as a result of such action. The injured party or landowner may rely on an assessment of damages based on the kind, condition, location, and use of the timber or forest product by the injured party or landowner, or alternatively, may elect to rely on the values established under section 3602 of this title.

  (b) If the defendant in an action brought pursuant to subsection (a) of this section establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that he or she had good reason to believe that the timber or forest products belonged to him or her, or that he or she had a legal right to perform the acts complained of, the plaintiff shall recover single damages only, with costs.

  (c) As used in this section, “damages” shall include any damage caused to the land or improvements thereon as a result of a person cutting, felling, destroying, removing, injuring, damaging, or carrying away timber or forest products without the permission of the owner of the property on which the timber stands. (Amended 1959, No. 61, eff. March 26, 1959; amended 2009, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2015, No. 106 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)