{"id":55,"date":"2026-05-14T16:07:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=55"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:07:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:07:30","slug":"kodiak-fisherman-will-plead-guilty-to-stealing-trees-from-alaskas-tongass-national-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtoalaskausa.com\/?p=55","title":{"rendered":"Kodiak fisherman will plead guilty to stealing trees from Alaska\u2019s Tongass National Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A commercial fisherman in Kodiak will plead guilty to stealing 16 yellow cedar trees from the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mitchell Keplinger, <\/span>charged with theft of government property<\/span> in April, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska on Wednesday for his formal arraignment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keplinger <\/span> the day after he was charged. Under the terms of the deal, he will avoid jail time but will pay $85,682.17 in restitution and be on probation for three years, a term that may later be reduced to no less than 18 months.<\/span><\/p>\n

That would be significantly lower than the maximum penalty for theft of government property, which can be punished by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keplinger\u2019s attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the text of the plea deal, Keplinger and his boat, the 54-foot seiner Alinchak, were working in the Sitka herring seine fishery in late March and early April 2024. After the fishery closed, Keplinger used his boat and crew \u201cto harvest Alaska yellow cedar trees on U.S. Forest Service lands near Sawmill Creek, Sugarloaf Mountain and in and around Sitka Sound.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The plea deal states that Keplinger knew that a permit was required to cut the trees and knew that he did not have that permit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKeplinger\u2019s crew, who were cutting the trees at his direction, had covered one of the stumps with moss to conceal the theft,\u201d the plea deal states.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paul Robbins, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service in the Tongass, said by email that yellow cedar \u201cis important culturally, ecologically, and economically. Its strength is seen in durable wood products from canoe paddles to engineered timber frames and the unique rot-resistant chemistry of its heartwood allows it to live for over 1000 years and to persist long after death as sequestered carbon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The 16 trees allegedly taken by Keplinger yielded 22 logs, \u201cbelonging to the United States, with a market value of $4,476.25,\u201d according to the plea deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keplinger then used his boat to take the logs to Kodiak, the plea deal states. The restitution required under the plea deal includes the cost of transporting the logs back to Sitka and the Forest Service.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTimber theft by individuals is not common on the Tongass National Forest,\u201d Robbins said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Court documents do not state why Keplinger took the trees or how the theft was discovered. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Alaska declined to talk about anything not covered by public court documents, as did Robbins with the Forest Service.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Feds officially cancel conservation rule for public lands<\/a><\/p>\n

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