There will be no criminal charges laid in relation to wood seized from the Atlin Road area last February, RCMP spokeswoman Brigitte Parker has confirmed.

The matter was in territorial court two weeks ago with the federal Department of Justice seeking an order to release the logs that were seized along the Atlin Road from the Lubbock Valley sawmill site owned by Jeffery Gilbert.

The logs were seized as part of an investigation to determine if the wood was taken from Crown land without the proper authority.

A recommendation contained in a sworn statement on July 19 by RCMP Cpl. Eric Hendriks of the Carcross detachment says no charges have been initiated to date, and that the wood is no longer needed.

A decision has been made, says his statement, not to conduct any further investigation into the accusations.

Gilbert has maintained he did nothing wrong, and simply purchased the wood from a local logger, just as he's done over the years.

Hendriks recommends the logs be released from the court to the Yukon government but not back to Gilbert.

Information provided through sworn statements before the court suggest that logger Larry Barrett had received written permission from the Carcross-Tagish First Nation to harvest wood from land that had been selected as part of its land claim. The land in question, the information states, was under interim protection for the first nation during land claim negotiations but did not form part of the final settlement package.

There is also on file with the court, however, a sworn statement from a former Yukon government negotiator that says the maps and specific areas he was asked to review did not involve any land that was ever under interim protection.

But Grand Chief Andy Carvill of the Council of Yukon First Nations, and the former chief of Carcross-Tagish, told Hendriks the land was part of the first nation's settlement negotiations and was under interim protection.

Barrett did have a letter from the first nation approving his harvest of trees from the land in question. It was only after the settlement agreement was finalized last fall that one parcel of land reverted back to regular Crown land, Carvill told Hendriks, says Hendriks' sworn statement.

If Barrett was cutting there after the fact, he was doing so in good faith, the grand chief told Hendriks.

Gilbert attempted to have the logs returned in May, after the initial three-month period for the seizure warrants was set to expire. The Crown, however, argued it needed more time for the investigation, and was granted a further three months.

Judge Heino Lilles decided two weeks ago to postpone any decision on releasing the logs until Sept. 1, in order to give Gilbert an opportunity to attend court and be heard on the matter of releasing the seized logs. Gilbert was not present two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Jean-Francois Nantel has filed a small claim in territorial court against RCMP Chief Supt. Dave Shewchuk and Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang.

Nantel asserts that the RCMP and the Yukon's forestry branch wrongfully seized a pile of his pine logs from Gilbert's yard, when their warrants allowed for the seizure of white spruce only.

He is seeking more than $3,000, of which $1,200 is identified for the logs, $921 for lawyer's fees and $1,000 in expenses to file the claim and travel to and from Whitehorse to address the matter, as well as lodging involved.

The RCMP have denied any seizure of pine logs. The Yukon government has not commented.

And the federal Department of Justice has filed a rebuttal to Nantel's claim arguing the small claims court has no jurisdiction on the matter.

If Nantel wants to pursue his case against the RCMP, he must do so in the Federal Court of Canada or the Yukon Supreme Court, the federal Justice department has submitted. The file is ongoing.

Lilles recommended that authorities take Nantel to the site where the seized logs are being kept so he can have a look.

The seizure took place while Gilbert was on holidays.

Gilbert has lamented the move was a waste of time and money, as seizure notices had already been placed on the logs at the site.

Given the nine or 10 trucks used in the seizure, other heavy equipment required and the two or three days it took to move the wood to Whitehorse, some estimate the cost of the seizure was in the tens of thousands of dollars.