Issaquah Highlands – What began as a simple, harmless phone notification this spring has rapidly evolved into a real estate mystery and a multi-million-dollar legal dispute for Issaquah property owners accused of illegally cutting and stripping dozens of trees on public land.
The stumps and barren trunks protruded into the sky where thick copper of Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce, Hemlock and maple stood. The cut stretches to Grand Ridge Park in King County. It is very obvious that it will fade away, and new holes in the forest can be seen from Interstate 90. What remains is a much clearer gaze between the three mansions on the hill and the mountains to the south.
The people who own the property are no secret. Four of them work in real estate, while the fifth is running for public office on Mercer Island.
However, it remains unclear why people were hired to clear these decades-old trees and why they were deeply reduced to public property. County officials still don’t know, and the owners haven’t said it. However, one is that another is defending the job while still keeping a complete distance from cuttings.
King County Attorney He filed a lawsuit June 6th, to all five property owners. The lawsuit, filed in Washington State Superior Court for King County, cites millions of dollars in damages. For the company (or business) behind the cuttings, the county lawyers only listed the pseudonyms.
The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case to determine whether criminal charges are guaranteed.
Nearby homeowner Alex Brown warned county officials of this spring cuts. When a natural resource officer visited the scene, he said he told him it was “genocide” and the “most terrible vandalism” of this kind they’ve ever seen.
The illegally cut and damaged trees leave serious and generational harm to protected natural areas, county parks director Warren Zimenez said in a statement. Not only did property owners cut themselves into large trees, they were also carved into sensitive and dangerous habitats, putting steep hillsides and surrounding ecosystems at future risk.
“This type of damage undermines decades of public investment in environmental conservation and responsible land management, and we are committed to violating public trust and taking responsibility for harming shared natural resources,” Jimenez said.
Brown and other neighbors have expressed concern over cuttings and their personal safety downhill, but the defendant himself provides little information.
King County officials continue to investigate, and lawyers are seeking a ju trial to determine the full extent of the damage.
I got caught up in the camera
Brown moved to his countryside Issaquah home about two years ago, and loves access to Wilds in particular in the Pacific Northwest. He is an experienced through hiker and trail runner, hunting and fish. He also places his trail camera in a small, sloping clearing about 75 yards behind the house to track wildlife. The area is remote in Grand Ridge Park in King County.
The alert intermittently pops up on Brown’s phone, informing him that the camera had detected movement and sent a photo of the captured footage.
Sometimes he will see bears, coyotes, and even mountain lions. He started Blog And contribute to the local area YouTube Channel Share video clips and his meditations.
In late March, Brown said he received another type of photo: what looks like a fallen tree.
He thought that was interesting. If a tree falls into the forest…
You know the proverbs.
However, the footage was not laughing. Brown saw it as a large log, stripped its branches and barreled its steep hillsides like missiles. It was quickly stuck under another large log from the trail cam.
Journalist Brown followed the clue. From the final resting spot of the log, he was able to see the path of destruction towards the expensive and private development of Grand Ridge Drive in Isaquah, climbing the steep slopes. He and his fellow neighbors ran down the slope through spider nets and brambles.
At the top, they found more destruction than they had expected.
Dozens of trees were innovative and saws. Some had been completely cut down, while others had their branches stripped, except for small clusters. Others were still “topped” or cut high above the trunk.
“My chin fell,” Brown said.
In the background were three mansions and well-maintained lawns.
brown He said We apologised to one of the property owners, Sam Cunningham for the cuts. He said Cunningham (didn’t respond to requests for comment.” For this story) Another neighbor told him he had hired a “licensed bonding treeman” on behalf of the property owner.
This was a case where the arborists became cheated and went beyond their outline. They were not particularly allowed to cut trees in the county park, Cunningham reportedly told Brown. The uphill neighbor asked Brown to allow their top to take the lead by reporting the incident to the county.
However, Brown and his neighbors contacted the county itself.
Revisiting the site in June and climbing between the cut logs, Brown examined the remaining pieces. He is extremely skeptical that such extensive damage could have been an accident.
“It takes a lot of skills and a lot of talent to pull this off,” he said.
The county sues
County officials paint a tree with a large orange number and stumps on county property. The numbers are recorded upwards one by one, and the damage is tallied.
Overall, 72 trees removed their limbs, 45 cut downs, 18 toppings and seven more trees damaged other ways. A total of 142.
More trees were cut and damaged on private property, and county officials confirmed that no liquidation permits have been issued for any of the three properties in question. Stopped work orders are stapled to several trees remaining in the park.
County attorneys filed the lawsuit in early June, citing Cunningham, his wife, Laura Blythe Cunningham, Vlad, Jessica Popach and Julie Hisi as defendants. Cunningham and Pokaches work in real estate, hsieh runs towards Mercer Island city Council.
The lawsuit condemns the damage to environmentally important lands where the accused and unknown companies are at risk of multiple trespassing numbers, damage to public land, negligence, and landslides and erosion.
County attorneys estimate the damage will be up to about $2.3 million. State law allows such damage to triple In these casestotaling nearly $7 million. The recovery, emotional damages, arborist fees and additional court costs should also be tripled, the complaint said.
The cuttings destroyed the land in King County, but by improving views of nearby mountains, the lawyers argue that the property values of the home on top of the hill may have increased. Damages to be decided at trial should consider boosting the shares, the complaint said.
A much fewer similar cases have been resolved. The city of Seattle filed a similar lawsuit against West Seattle homeowners in 2017 after destroying more than 150 trees there. The city agreed to settle for $440,000 and provided one family exemption from criminal charges in exchange for naming the other property owners involved.
Some property owners respond
Hsieh strongly opposed the allegations in the lawsuit and her involvement. She lives on Mercer Island, but served as a registered agent for her parents’ businesses (also listed as defendants in the lawsuit), where she purchased Isaquah’s home. Her parents closed their home in February and had not moved yet when the cuttings occurred, she said.
The family had never met Pokachi or Cunningham, Hsieh said in the text.
“I don’t know them yet,” she said. “Now there are gap holes with some damaged trees that once had beautiful trees.”
“My family was dragged into this,” she added.
Hsieh said he hopes that those who “have committed this horrible act” will be brought to speedy justice.
Vlad Popach confirmed that Hsieh was not involved. However, many of the other details he provided raised more questions.
Popach said in an email exchange this week that the remaining property owners wanted to cut the tree because they believed it poses a threat to the house in question by citing wind damage from the storm last winter.
Pocach admitted that Arborists knew they would cut down on King County land. The neighbor called county officials to discuss the issue and received “verbal permission” in the green light of cuttings, he said.
However, Popach said he doesn’t remember the names of the county officials who gave him permission.
Regarding cuttings on private property, Popach said it requires permission and believes that no work was done to improve the opinions of these homes.
As the county’s lawsuit progressed, authorities declined to comment further on the case.
Popach refused to name the people who might be able to support his claims: the arborists.
What’s next?
Kaitlyn McNulty and her husband moved to the area with their young son about 18 months ago, and they live not too far from Brown. McNulty’s husband was actually a man who climbed the hills in brown.
They become uncomfortable and scared of cuttings. McNulty would be incredible if that fallen log doesn’t stop on his way down the hill. It could have hurt someone or went all the way to I-90.
Trees in the area are susceptible to strong winds, she said. However, the cut trees were sitting downhill from the house in question, hundreds of feet away from them.
“You want to feel like your neighbor has your back,” McNulty said. “It makes my family feel even worse, while actively putting them at risk.”
The area is prone to landslides, McNulty said. Such risks can be reduced by trees that secure the soil to the mountainside. And these trees belonged to the county and should have been protected.
But now many of them have been reduced or damaged, and McNulty wants a slope assessment to determine if the risk of landslides has increased.
Yes, the mystical crew physically cut these trees, McNulty said. But she holds people who are more responsible for the damage.
