California Code, Public Resources Code - PRC § 4879

It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, except boom companies which may be required or compelled to catch and hold logs or timber, to take up or have in their possession, or to sell, dispose of, or convert or appropriate to their own use, without the written consent of the owner or his agent, any marked log, timber, pole, pile, tie, shingle bolt, boom stick, or lumber of value, not the property of such person, firm or corporation, found on the bank or banks of, or adrift, or strayed in, any harbor, river, lake, bay, slough, bayou, creek, pond, stream, ditch or other waters situated wholly or partly within the boundaries of this state, if the person or company claiming such mark has had a description and diagram of it recorded in any of the counties of this state through which such property was to be floated for manufacture or sale. Knowledge of the ownership of all such logs, timber, or lumber for the purpose of this chapter shall be conclusively presumed upon proof that the logs, timber or lumber were marked and that the description and diagram had been theretofore recorded. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine not exceeding six hundred dollars ($600), or by imprisonment for not more than one year.