GRESHAM, Ore. — The City of Gresham wants your help catching the person they've dubbed "the Gresham Lumberjack." The suspect has cut down hundreds of trees along the Springwater Corridor Trail, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
Five miles of the Springwater Trail runs through Gresham city limits, but for the past year city officials say they've had a big problem. Someone just won't stop cutting trees down along the trail for no apparent reason. Frustrated city officials say the weapon of choice for the Gresham lumberjack appears to be a handsaw.
"We've got big trees, small trees, everything in between being either completely cut down and just left here or partially cut down, which is a hazard," said Joe Walsh, Parks & Recreation manager for the city of Gresham. "There's no rhyme or reason — nobody's taking the wood with them, they are just leaving it on the ground and leaving it all over the trail."
The Gresham Lumberjack has been at it since last August. To date, close to 100 trees within a mile and a half stretch of the trail have been destroyed, causing over $100,000 in damages by necessitating restoration efforts.
"The big impact is losing those trees that are 40 to 60 years old that you can't get back immediately," explained Mike Wallace, natural resources ecologist with the City of Gresham.
Wallace said that they're now turning to the community to help identify the person.
"If they see someone in the open space cutting or doing something suspicious in that environment, just to be cognizant of what is going on," said Wallace.
"We need to catch this person, we need to end this, and I would invite people to use the trail because we need more eyes out here," said Walsh.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Gresham police at the non-emergency line at 503-823-3333 or also via the MyGresham app or city website.