Tree Thieves

Crime and Survival in North America's Woods

By: Lyndsie Bourgon

Narrated by: Hayden Bishop

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

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, forensic wood specialists, the enigmatic residents of former logging communities, environmental activists, international timber cartels, and indigenous communities along the way.

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 trees is a form of deeply rooted protest, and a side effect of environmental preservation and protection that doesn't include communities that have been uprooted or marginalized when park boundaries are drawn. As Bourgon discovers, failing to include working class and rural communities in the preservation of these awe-inducing ecosystems can lead to catastrophic results.

Featuring excellent investigative reporting, fascinating characters, logging history, political analysis, and cutting-edge tree science, Tree Thieves takes readers on a thrilling journey into the intrigue, crime, and incredible complexity sheltered under the forest canopy.

Critic reviews

“Tree Thieves is just an exceptional book. It's a gripping investigation into tree poaching, a remarkably compassionate study of the culture clashes involved, a thoughtful look at environmental values. But underlying all of that is Lyndsie Bourgon's lyrical reminder of everything we love and everything we lose in a world of vanishing forests.”—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Poisoner's Handbook

“An astounding, essential read in our time of environmental and social crises. Tree Thieves exposes the astonishing realities of tree poaching and the dire consequences of excluding rural and Indigenous communities from preservation efforts.”—Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of The Feather Thief and The Fishermen and the Dragon

"Bourgon vividly captures a hidden cat and mouse game playing out in some of the world's most iconic forests."—Sarah Berman, author of Don't Call It a Cult: The Shocking Story of Keith Raniere and the Women of NXIVM

"Absorbing. Part social history, part true crime,Tree Thieves is a riveting tale of timber heists plaguing forests from the redwoods to the Amazon.”—Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring

"Tree Thieves is both an absorbing true-crime story and a fascinating examination of the deep and troubled relationship between people and forests. From Sherwood Forest to the California redwoods to the Peruvian Amazon, Lyndsie Bourgon illuminates the violent conflicts over power, class, and identity that continue to shape and scar the forests we depend on."—Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction

“Tracking thieves, poachers, and capitalists, Lyndsie Bourgon masterfully takes on the role of detective shining a light on the complex and camouflaged world of the timber black market. The result is a meticulous investigation and a powerful testimony to the trees silently taken and the consequences of their fall that reverberate well beyond the forest.”—Harley Rustad, author of Lost in the Valley of Death

“Tree Thieves is a deeply researched examination of the past, present, and future of our forests, told through stories of timber poaching. Lyndsie Bourgon shows us that we must take into account all the complexities of human-nature relationships if we are to have any hope of keeping our standing giants alive.”—Gina Rae La Cerva, author of Feasting Wild

“A fascinating blend of history and boots-in-the-mud journalism, which manages to dig into ancient and thorny questions about who really owns wild land and who is allowed to live off it. To poach of course means to steal. But is wilderness preservation also a form of theft, only on a larger scale? This book does what all great books should: it leaves your mind broader, deeper, and more nuanced.”—Robert Moor, author of On Trails: An Exploration

A way of life is gone

Enumerating the massive problem of tree thievery globally shocked me. I hoped for a solution and perhaps a reduction through some kind of a positive program. What was offered seemed ineffective or too small or indifferent, especially to the logging communities needs. So many kinds of wood needed for so many consumer goods With a special emphasis endangering our precious redwoods. Sad.

Super interesting and quick read

A really good primer to a very complex topic. Mainly focused on west coast forests but the narrator constantly mispronounces “Sierra Nevada” and other locations. Nobody west of the Rockies says “Neh-vahdah” haha.