ELKTON Logging remains under probe

The county prosecutor's office is reviewing the matter and charges could be filed.
ELKTON -- An investigation is continuing into the cutting of nearly 170 trees from state forest land.
Authorities are still trying to determine whether loggers intentionally cut the trees from state property or took down the trees thinking they were on private land, Jim Tillman, Beaver Creek State Park manager, said Thursday.
Either way, the tree removal could still result in criminal charges because loggers have a responsibility to ensure they're cutting where they're authorized to do so, he added.
The Columbiana County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing the matter.
"It's going to take some time to sort this out," Tillman said.
What happened: The trees were cut about a week ago on a nearly 20-acre section of state forest land north of Middle Beaver Road in Elkrun Township. The land is near the park's Lusk Lock Trail.
State investigators so far have determined that the owner of property adjacent to the state forest hired a Youngstown construction company to remove trees.
The Youngstown company subcontracted the work to two men, one from Trumbull County and the other from Geauga County.
All the trees taken from state forest land were hardwoods, some of which were nearly a century old.
A market value for the trees has yet to be established. Most of the cut trees were taken to a mill and converted to lumber.
Authorities aren't certain yet what happened to the lumber.