ELKTON State probes logging to see if it was illegal

Some of the cut trees were nearly a century old.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
ELKTON -- State officials are investigating to determine if loggers illegally cut about 170 trees from state forest property.
The trees were removed recently by loggers from Trumbull County, said Jim Tillman, Beaver Creek State Park manager.
It's suspected that the cutting occurred 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.
"We're pretty certain it's on our property," Tillman said.
The state is having surveyors check to make a final determination. If the logging was done on state land, the matter probably will be turned over to the Columbiana County prosecutor's office and to state officials in Columbus. It's possible criminal charges could be filed, Tillman said.
Investigators also are trying to determine who ordered the cutting, who performed the work and what outfit was involved in hauling the cut logs away, Tillman said.
Hardwoods: All the trees were hardwoods. Most of them were 50 to 100 years old.
There are no markers denoting the boundary of the state forest land.
But Tillman said anyone undertaking a logging operation has a responsibility to ensure they know whose land they're on.