Plunder the Mistletoe? : Scenery Stealers, Beware of Watchful Rangers

Ah, there it is, huge clumps of the lucky stuff on an old sycamore in the Cleveland National Forest, as tempting as a forbidden kiss.

But don’t even think of snipping a single sprig of mistletoe, authorities warn.

‘Tis the season for deck-the-hall revelers who pilfer pine cones, acorns and red berries from Orange County’s regional parks and the national forest east of San Juan Capistrano. Authorities are on the lookout for such scenery stealers, ready to issue $75 citations for filching plants or other bits of nature, and, for Christmas tree thieves, to mete out stiff punishment--tickets that carry a maximum $5,000 fine and six-month prison sentence.

Oh, come on, people grumble. What’s a few pocketed acorns in a forest full of acorns?

“If we allowed everyone to come in and pick a flower or take a berry, that would obviously mess up the whole environment, not only for the people but for the wildlife,” said Tim Miller, manager of the county’s regional parks.

In county parks, rangers issue only warnings to people who try to take a piece of the wilderness home, but will call a sheriff’s deputy to issue citations to flagrant violators who refuse to stop illegal actions such as loading a pickup truck full of pine cones. Just before Christmas, park officials will catch people who hop over barbed wire fences to twist off a bough of holly or fill their car seats and trunks with mistletoe, said Larry Norton, a ranger at Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park in San Juan Capistrano. Sometimes, thieves will scurry up 30-foot sycamore trees to snatch a clump of mistletoe, he said.

In the national forest, rangers issue about 100 citations a year to people who illegally saw off pine branches or steal other souvenirs of nature, said agency spokeswoman Judy Behrens. Forest officials allow visitors to take a couple bags full of acorns, pine cones and other small forest products with the proper permits, which range from $5 to $10 (Information: [909] 736-1811).

But permits are not issued for potential Christmas trees, such as the Monterey pines that grow in the forest. So far, forest officials have not caught anyone chopping down pine trees, probably because there aren’t that many around, Behrens said.

In Los Angeles County’s Angeles National Forest--at a higher elevation, where pines are more plentiful--rangers catch about 30 ax-wielding people a year trying to haul off Douglas firs and sugar pines.

Such thieves are hard to catch in the sprawling Cleveland National Forest, which draws more than 12 million visitors annually. In the Trabuco Ranger District, which covers part of Orange County, only two rangers patrol the 135,000-acre territory. So, forest officials work on public education through speeches to school and community groups, harping on the importance of letting alone each pine cone, each acorn, each red berry.

Each “is part of a whole community,” said forest wildlife biologist Mary L. Thomas. “That community is the forest, and the forest is important to all of our existence.”

On a recent afternoon, Thomas walked through a rare thicket of pines in the forest and pointed out Mother Nature at work:

Saw off a pine branch, and you invite beetle infestation, which ultimately could kill a tree. Gather acorns, and you take away food from squirrels and deer. Take pine cones, and you deprive the soil of a natural fertilizer.

City folks tend to think of the national forest as public property--the place for fresh holiday decorations, free for the taking--without thinking of the consequences, Thomas said.

“It is their [forest], but what we’ve been charged with is taking care of it for them and taking care of it in the best possible manner, so not only does this get preserved for their kids and their kids’ kids, but it gets preserved in a manner so that it serves a purpose,” she said.

Mother Nature has one way of slapping the hands of plant pullers, Thomas pointed out. Around Christmas, there’s a plant with delicate leaves and berries that turn as red as Santa’s suit, perfect for sprinkling around a centerpiece.

The plant’s name: poison oak.