 Ownership of the timber land around the tree was eventually acquired by the Cole and Crane Real Estate Trust , which leased the timbering rights to the North East Lumber Company . Under the lease agreement , the North East Lumber Company only paid for the lumber that it cleared from the land . The company found the Mingo Oak too large to cut down , and assessed that its removal was too costly to undertake . The Cole and Crane Real Estate Trust also leased out the land where the tree was located to the Island Creek Coal Company for mining . 
