TRESPASS. 11 



States, the trespass will be considered an innocent one. Where these 

 conditions do not exist, the trespass will be considered willful. While 

 the men who do the actual cutting may legally be held for the trespass, 

 ordinarily it is advisable, particularly in civil cases, to proceed against 

 the corporation, company, or individual by whose direction and for 

 whose benefit the cutting was done. In civil cases the employer is 

 liable for the willfulness of the employee, if he knew of the trespass and 

 took no means to stop it, or, if after the trespass was committed, he 

 knowingly approved it or adopted it by receiving the fruit of the tres- 

 pass, or whenever he employed persons to do the cutting knowing 

 them to be careless, reckless, and unreliable. 



The willfulness or innocence of a trespass determines whether 

 the value of the material in the condition where found 

 f or ^ S va ^ ue immediately after felling will be the basis 

 for assessing the damages due the United States. 

 Forest officers must be extremely careful, therefore, to secure all 

 evidence bearing on this point, and their reports must clearly show 

 into which class the trespass falls. If, for instance, no settlement is 

 made in a trespass case, and it becomes necessary to institute suit 

 to obtain damages, evidence of reliable witnesses will be needed to 

 prove whether the trespass was innocent or willful, and such evi- 

 dence, in affidavit or other form, should accompany the report. In 

 every case, whether considered by the forest officer innocent or 

 willful, the safer course is to secure and report the values both on 

 the basis of innocent and willful trespass. 



When the trespass is innocent, the measure of damage will be the 



In innocent value of the timber after it was cut at the place where 

 cases. it was cut. 



Where the purchaser of timber cut in innocent trespass is held 

 for damages the measure will" be the value of the 



r " timber after it was cut at the P lace w h e . re it was 

 cut. If the timber is purchased from a willful tres- 

 passer, without knowledge of the trespass, the value will be deter- 

 mined as of the time of such purchase. 



When the trespass is willful the measure of damages will be the 



In willful cases va ^ ue ^ the timber in its condition when and where 



found. If, when a willful trespass is discovered, the 



trees are felled, the assessed damage will be the stumpage plus the 



cost of felling ; if they are cut into logs, the cost of bucking will be 



added, and if found at the mill the cost of both bucking and hauling 



will be added. The current value of the lumber will be the basis 



for assessing damages if the logs have passed through the mill. 



Where the purchaser of timber cut in trespass is held for damages, 



the measure will be the value of the material at the 



chasers 11 p u r ~ time and place it is found if it was purchased from a 



willful trespasser with full knowledge that the timber 



was cut in trespass. 



If in addition to the cutting and removal of Government timber, 

 Waste and ^ e trespasser, by careless felling or logging, has done 

 damage to Forest, avoidable damage to young growth or timber left 

 standing, an estimate of the money value of this 

 loss should be made and included in the assessed damages. Mer- 

 chantable timber wasted in high stumps, long tops, or left in the 

 woods should, of course, be included in the scale. 



