<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif">In responding to Bryce's query about an easement holder who logged the trees necessary to use the easement - </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif">I have a little different take than some of the comments. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif">First, I agree with those that said the timber trespass statute is inapplicable, as there is likely "lawful authority". The easement holder has the right to have the servient property owner remove anything that interferes with the use of the easement. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif">Second, I do think the better practice would have been for the easement holder to ask the servient property owner to remove the trees not "self-help".</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif">That said - I diverge from some prior comments in that I think the servient property owner obligated to pay removal fees as they were responsible for those - they had to remove the trees upon request so long as reasonably necessary for dominant easement holder to exercise easement rights. But give the servient owner the trees themselves, or if already sold, the proceeds, as they were his/her trees.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif">In other words: I think the easement holder essentially stepped into the shoes of exercising the servient property owner's obligations, and the servient owner obligated to cover the costs of exercising those obligations as he/she would have born them to begin with if they had done it themselves (as they would have had to do); but also entitled to what was theirs (the trees). Put another way: they are obligated/entitled to no more and no less than if they had done the job themselves. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif">That is of course limited to the scenario Bryce confirmed, that no more trees were taken down than necessary to exercise easement rights. Anything beyond that would be a different analysis.</div><div><div class="gmail_signature" dir="ltr" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><br><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="trebuchet ms,sans-serif" size="2"><br></font></div><div><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">Carmen Rowe, Attorney/Owner<i><br><br></i></font></div><div><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><img width="200" height="74" src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B-SsegebS6iBQmkwSkhNWFdCaWM&revid=0B-SsegebS6iBSWFDWVhkc3B3MURTV3h6QUR4OXJQUnhrRVp3PQ"><br></font></div></div><div dir="ltr"><font face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font color="#660000" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"></font></div><div><font color="#660000" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Phone: (360) 669-3576 (direct cell)<br></font></div><div><font color="#660000" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2">Email: Carmen@GryphonLawGroup.com<br><br></font><span><font color="#660000" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><b>Mailing address: </b>1673 S. 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