Someone is poaching old growth maple trees on Burnaby Mountain, Mounties warned yesterday.
About a year ago, Burnaby park workers, who were conducting routine trail maintenance on Burnaby Mountain, noticed that a number of bigleaf maples had been slashed, said Cpl. Jane Baptista in a release yesterday. One tree had been chopped down and a slab of wood had been “poached” from its bole.
Parks staff has since discovered five more downed trees and many more that have been slashed to expose the grain of the wood.
“When the trees are slashed, this provides an entry point where disease can enter the tree,” Baptista said.
“When they are chopped down, these beautiful, tall trees take out other trees and vegetation that get in their way.”
Burnaby Mountain is a conservation area and damaging trees is punishable by a $2,000 fine. Baptista said the poachers would need special equipment and expertise and asked that any chainsaw or chopping noises be reported to the Burnaby RCMP.
