Denoyer v. Lamb

What is the measure of damages when a trespasser cuts and removes trees from residential and recreational land, in the process destroying other trees and damaging the land with heavy equipment? The trial court excluded evidence of the costs of cleanup and restoration and restricted plaintiffs-appellants (hereinafter “plaintiffs”) to proof of the timber or “stum-page” value of the cut and destroyed trees. We agree with plaintiffs that this was error.

I

Four parcels were damaged by defendants’ cutting of trees. Three of the parcels were residential lots on Turgot Drive in Evendale; they were part…