Craig James from Aberdeen, WA was news/2009020137_weboldgrowth10m.html">sentenced to two years in jail for the theft of old growth cedar trees from the Olympic National Forest. Timber theft has become a serious problem in the Pacific Northwest, as increasing restrictions and demand for high quality cedar trees pushes the price for raw timber through the roof. James and several other men were indicted on charges of conspiracy to harvest and sell old growth cedar trees, some of which were nearly 600 years old. According to a news release, "The trees were taken from one of the last-known stands of old grown western red cedar in Southwestern Washington." A mature western red cedar tree can be between 150 and 250 feet tall, with a trunk that can be up to 22 feet around at the base. Some of the trees which James conspired to cut down and sell for use in making musical instruments were saplings when Christopher Columbus voyaged across the Atlantic. According to an article in the Seattle PI from 2003, "U.S. Forest Service officials estimate as many as one in every 10 trees cut in national forests is taken illegally." In that year, the Forest Service estimated that as much as $1 billion in timber was stolen from national forests. By way of comparison, the Seattle PI points out that $8 billion in cars was stolen that year. Although many states are suffering from timber theft (including the theft of rare koa wood in Hawaii), Washington has become one of the few states which seriously prosecutes these offenses.