WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The bipartisan Combat Illegal Logging Act of 2007, introduced today in the U.S. Senate by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), unites a coalition rarely, if ever, seen on forestry legislation. This landmark bill has been endorsed by the largest representatives of the U.S. timber industry, as well as by a remarkable array of national organized labor and conservation organizations (see list below).
The bill builds on the momentum generated by Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer's introduction in March of similar bipartisan legislation. Like Rep. Blumenauer's bill, the Combat Illegal Logging Act would amend a long- standing wildlife trafficking statute, the U.S. Lacey Act, to prohibit the import, sale or trade in illegally-harvested wood and wood products.
"We salute Senator Wyden for bringing this broad coalition to a common stance on a common problem," said Alexander von Bismarck of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which played a central role in facilitating discussion on the legislation among stakeholders. "We particularly recognize the industry leadership shown by the American Forest and Paper Association and the Hardwood Federation, which have taken a courageous step towards stopping a destructive trade in stolen goods."
"Too often we find in our investigations that the American consumer is the unwitting accomplice to violent criminal networks that are plundering the world's forests. This bill will, for the first time, make the U.S. market part of the solution instead of a leading cause of the illegal logging problem," said von Bismarck.
Organizations currently endorsing the Combat Illegal Logging Act of 2007: American Forest & Paper Association; Center for International Environmental Law; Conservation International; Defenders of Wildlife; Dogwood Alliance; Environmental Investigation Agency; ForestEthics; Friends of the Earth; Global Witness; Greenpeace; International Brotherhood of Teamsters; National Hardwood Lumber Association; Natural Resources Defense Council; Rainforest Action Network; Rainforest Alliance; Sierra Club; Society of American Foresters; Sustainable Furniture Council; The Hardwood Federation; The Nature Conservancy; Tropical Forest Trust; United Steelworkers; Wildlife Conservation Society; World Wildlife Fund.
Editor's notes:
-- The U.S. is the world's leading consumer of wood products. The U.S.
imported $58.2 billion of timber and wood products in 2005, according
to U.S. International Trade Commission data, including at least $10.7
billion in wooden furniture and $20.8 billion in paper products and
wood pulp.
-- Illegal logging costs the U.S. forest products industry an estimated
$1 billion per year in depressed prices and reduced exports.
-- EIA has been investigating illegal logging and its associated trade
for over ten years. EIA is an international campaigning organization
committed to investigating and exposing environmental crime and
campaigning to protect endangered species and the natural world. For
more, go to: http://www.eia-global.org/ and
http://www.eia-international.org/
Contact: Alexander von Bismarck, +1-202-483-6621 or +1-301-706-3375, saschavonbismarck@eia-international.org
Environmental Investigation Agency
