Tree Thieves

A gripping account of the billion-dollar timber black market — and how it intersects with environmentalism, class and culture.

Old-growth trees are invaluable and irreplaceable for both humans and wildlife and are the oldest living things on earth. But the morality of tree poaching is not as simple as we might think: stealing a tree is a form of deeply rooted protest and a side effect of environmental preservation and protection that ignores communities that are uprooted or marginalized when park boundaries are drawn.

In Tree Thieves, Lyndsie Bourgon takes us deep into the underbelly of the illegal timber market. As she traces three timber-poaching cases, she introduces us to tree poachers, law enforcement officers, forensic wood specialists, the enigmatic residents of former logging communities, environmental activists, international timber cartels and Indigenous communities.

Tree Thieves takes readers on a thrilling journey into the intrigue, crime, and incredible complexity hidden beneath the forest canopy.