NEWS RELEASE
Nov. 13, 2012
Contact:
Thea Schwartz
Michael Duane
Assistant Attorneys General
(802) 828-2359
Two logging companies, Adrien Inkel and Son, Inc. and Stephane Inkel, Inc. will pay $150,000 in civil penalties for violating Vermont’s “Heavy Cut” law. Enacted in 1997 by the Vermont legislature, the Heavy Cut law requires landowners to follow sound forest management practices when heavy cutting 40 acres or more. The companies failed to follow their current use forest management plan while heavy cutting on part of their 2,113 acre parcel in Bloomfield, Vermont. “Good forest management benefits us all. Making sure forests are managed in a sustainable way that keeps the forest resilient and productive for future use is critically important to our rural economy and environment,” Attorney General Bill Sorrell said.
Under the court-approved settlement the companies will pay the state $150,000 for four violations of the Heavy Cut law in four forest stands on their land in Bloomfield. In addition to paying the civil environmental penalties for violating the Heavy Cut law, the companies had to remediate multiple violations of Vermont’s water quality law. Under state law, the companies’ entire 2,113 acre parcel was removed from Vermont’s current use program for five years. The companies were also required to pay a land use change tax of $29,017 and lost $50,294 in current use property tax benefits. Attorney General Sorrell said, “When landowners receive tax benefits under the current use program, it is imperative that they follow their forest management plan.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Logging companies must pay Vermont $150,000 for improper timber harvesting.