Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Role in Illegal Logging and Subsequent Forest Fire

(Olympia, WA) -- A western Washington man will spend 20 months in prison after tree DNA evidence linked him to an illegal logging operation. 39-year-old Justin Andrew Wilke is one of multiple accused in a scheme to unlawfully harvest maple trees from the Olympic National Forest that subsequently started a large forest fire. According to court documents, Wilke and his crew removed the maple trees, then used forged permits to sell the wood—which is used to make musical instruments.

A research geneticist with the USDA Forest Service was able to match some the wood Wilke sold to remains of three of the poached trees that investigators had discovered in the Elk Lake area. The DNA analysis was so precise that it found the probability of the match being coincidental was approximately 1 in 1 undecillion (1 followed by 36 zeros), and also concluded that Wilke unlawfully harvested and sold wood from several additional maples. Furthermore, officials linked Wilke and two others to a fire started on August 3rd, 2018, when the trio cut a maple tree with a wasp's nest near the base. They removed the nest with insecticide and likely gasoline, then set the nest on fire, but did not extinguish the blaze. The flames grew into the Maple Fire which ultimately consumed more than 3,300 acres and cost $4.2 million to contain.

In addition to the 20-month sentence, Wilke was ordered to forfeit the proceeds of his illegal poaching, and pay restitution to the United States Forest Service.