18 U.S.C. § 1854
Section 1854 · Trees boxed for pitch or turpentine
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Lewis (1986)
Most recently applied in 735 F. Supp. 2d 440 - David v. Signal International, L.L.C. (August 2010)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Whoever cuts, chips, chops, or boxes any tree upon any lands belonging to the United States, or upon any lands covered by or embraced in any unperfected settlement, application, filing, entry, selection, or location, made under any law of the United States, for the purpose of obtaining from such tree any pitch, turpentine, or other substance; or
Whoever buys, trades for, or in any manner acquires any pitch, turpentine, or other substance, or any article or commodity made from any such pitch, turpentine, or other substance, with knowledge that the same has been so unlawfully obtained—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §105 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §51, 35 Stat. 1098).
Reference to persons aiding, encouraging, or causing was deleted as unnecessary since such persons are made principals by section 2 of this title.
Maximum fine was increased from $500 to $1,000 to conform to other comparable sections of this chapter. (See sections 1851 and 1852 of this title.)
Minor changes also were made in phraseology.
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–294 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $1,000” in last par.