The men pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy, damaging government property and theft of government property in connection with an alleged scheme to harvest and sell old-growth timber, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The arrests cap a nearly decade-long investigation of illegal harvesting of old-growth trees, according to court documents filed in connection with the case.

The investigation led to the Humptulips home of one of the men, where agents found blocks of wood investigators determined where from old-growth trees felled in the Cook Creek area of the Pacific Ranger District in February 2006, according to the documents.

The wood was taken to mills in Moclips and Elma, where the men provided false documentation indicating that the wood had been harvested from private property in Pacific Beach, according to the indictment.

Craig James, 46, of Aberdeen, Bruce Brown, 46, of Humptulips, and Floyd Stutesman, 47, of Hoquiam, are scheduled for a detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Tacoma Wednesday afternoon.