The devastation of the 0.4-hectare area of 254 pine trees and 92 juniper bushes took place secretively during the night of July 30 to July 31. The Druskininkai municipality decided to chop down the trees regardless of repeated protests from the local community.
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus had also requested the Druskininkai administration to leave the plot in peace. Adamkus, a former top U.S. environment official, took the action as a personal insult.
He expressed indignation at the municipality's decision, calling on the environment minister and the Special Investigations Service - Lithuania's FBI - to look into the circumstances of the incident.
"This vandalism is a spit in the face for the president and the government. The Druskininkai Municipality Council, (former Environment Minister Henrikas) Zukauskas, (head of Alytus county Raimundas) Markauskas and Palavinskas are responsible for it," Linas Vainius, deputy chairman of the Lithuanian Green Movement, told The Baltic Times. Druskininkai is a part of the county of Alytus.
The story goes back to 1999, when the Druskininkai municipality took on an obligation to give Lietuva Statoil, a subsidiary of Norway's Statoil, which already owns a chain of gas stations across the country, the rights to a plot of about 4,000 square meters. But the land did not belong to the municipality at that time; it did to the Lithuanian state.
In an attempt to take over the ownership rights the Druskininkai administration maintained that the plot had no trees. According to Lithuanian law, the country's extensive areas of ancient forest are protected by the fact that strict felling permits are required from forestry authorities under the jurisdiction of the Environment Ministry.
After misleading the government with the collusion of Alytus county, its link to Vilnius, the resort town's municipality was granted ownership of the land. Markauskas helped to convince the Paksas' government that the trees in the plot were of no value The decree was signed by then Environment Minister Zukauskas, a member of Rolandas Paksas' Liberal Union who was forced out of government along with the rest of Paksas' team in Lithuania's June political crisis.
"Zukauskas was fully aware about the existence of the pine forest," Vainius said. "Palavinskas held the post of Druskininkai's chief architect when the business with Statoil started and later became environment vice minister. He also knew that a valuable forest was in that place."
Palavinskas kept his post during the recent government upheavals, moving into the new Cabinet of Algirdas Brazauskas.
New Environment Minister Arunas Kundrotas, an old friend and colleague of Adamkus, appointed a commission on Aug. 2 and discovered more violations. These included the fact that the trees were chopped down without the necessary felling permit.
"The people of Druskininkai had been protesting against the planned destruction of the forest since 1999. They asked our Green movement for help. This spring we demonstrated near Statoil headquarters in Vilnius. The cutting took place on the eve of a government meeting that planned to forbid the felling of these trees," Vainius said.
"This is already the third incident involving the construction of a Statoil gas station. The other two incidents were in Kaunas. Areas of forest are being destroyed without paying attention to the local population."
On Aug. 4, Vainius and Druskininkai residents placed a traditional Lithuanian wooden cross at the site of the devastation, at the crossroads of Ciurlionio and Veisieju streets. This cross is intended to symbolize the hope that a forest will be replanted there.
The Catholic Church was asked to bless the cross but refused. On Aug. 6, the cross was found lying on the ground. Druskininkai police were reported to be investigating.
Kundrotas was the first to admit that the fine demanded from the Druskininkai municipality was minimal. But there was a reason for this. "Of course, it is a petty fine compared with the damage caused. But local people could suffer because the fine will probably be paid out of the municipality's budget," he said.
The picturesque spa resort of Druskininkai is situated in the tree-covered valley of the Nemunas River. But it is also one of the poorest towns in Lithuania and has a high rate of unemployment.
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