The State - News from Dec. 16, 1987

Special yuletide patrols are on the lookout for anyone illegally cutting down or topping trees in California’s national forests, as owners and operators of tree farms and lots stand guard for thefts. Matt Mathes, a spokesman with the U.S. Forest Service in San Francisco, said that it is often difficult to control individual tree-cutters and that rangers often find trees that have been topped and ruined, or a wide area of stumps. In the Lake Tahoe area, Carlton said, about 14 acres of private property have been stripped of trees so far this season.