• A coalition of U.S. and international preservationists
has launched a campaign to block a new global trade agreement. The pact would
eliminate tariffs on wood products. The environmentalists want tariff
negotiations linked to preservation of world forests.
The environmentalists also filed a lawsuit in federal court
in Seattle against the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The
lawsuit challenges two advisory committees set up to give the administration
input on trade policy relating to forest products. The panels are made up of
representatives from the wood and paper products industries and have no members
representing environmental interests, they argue.
A new agreement is expected to be signed by
many of the more than 130 nations scheduled to attend a meeting of the World Trade
Organization in Seattle in November. The new agreement could boost
consumption of wood products worldwide by 3% to 4%.
"It would be a big shot in the arm for the U.S. industry
and particularly for the Northwest," said Barry Polsky, a spokesman for the American
Forest and Paper Association.
• A deal between British Columbia and MacMillan
Bloedel involving Vancouver Island has environmentalists
stirred up.
The deal gives the provincial government the option of paying the
company $83.75 million in cash in compensation for lost timber rights on Crown land used
for new parks. The government also may privatize tracts of Crown land on the
island, an option that has angered environmentalists.
• A federal appeals court panel indicated it may reject a
timber company’s request to recover legal fees from an environmental group
that unsuccessfully sued over logging practices in California’s Humboldt County. But
judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also seemed troubled by three of the
court’s own conflicting precedents on fee awards.
Pacific Lumber Co. is trying to turn the tables
on its environmental critics. Environmentalists frequently request legal fees if they
prevail in litigation. Pacific Lumber says it deserves $670,000 in legal fees
because it won a lawsuit brought under the Endangered Species Act.
• The U.S. Forest Service closed a logging road on
Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon in an effort to block attempts by protestors
to supply an activist who suspended herself in a tree. The unidentified
woman rigged herself up in a cargo net 60 feet above the road.
It was the latest confrontation with the Forest Service
over logging in four areas known as the Eagle timber sale.
Several protesting tree-sitters have been demonstrating against the sales for
several months.
• A federal judge in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
refused to bring a halt to emergency logging around Hayden Lake.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge took no action after
listening to eight hours of testimony. He will consider arguments from
environmental groups, the Forest Service and private landowners before deciding
whether to block fast-track logging on 4,000 acres.
The Idaho Panhandle National Forest received permission from the Forest
Service in Washington, D.C. to start logging before appeals are resolved. The emergency
logging was approved because of fire danger posed by dying trees.
• Environmentalists are forging partnerships with
big corporations to achieve their agenda. Both are after the same thing — winning
over consumers.
Groups like Greenpeace have lost membership. To gain respectability,
they try to work with big business. Some companies are working with them
because they see a consumer demand for environmentally friendly products.
One example: the Forestry Stewardship Council, a
nonprofit group based in Mexico. It sets stringent international standards for timber
practices in order to earn the council’s "Sustainable Forest Product"
label. About 100 European companies have signed up, including Britain’s
largest home-improvement chain, B&Q. B&Q executives have pledged to buy certified
sustainable lumber products by next year.
• The Rainforest Action Network is starting up protests
again against Home Depot. The group wants Home Depot to stop selling
products made of old-growth wood. Home Depot has said it would limit the use of old-growth
products and that it works with a third-party certifier to verify that products are
environmentally sound.
An explosive device was found recently near the home improvement retailer’s
headquarters in Atlanta, but authorities said Rainforest Action Network was not
implicated.
• A coalition of U.S. and international preservationists
has launched a campaign to block a new global trade agreement. The pact would
eliminate tariffs on wood products. The environmentalists want tariff
negotiations linked to preservation of world forests.
The environmentalists also filed a lawsuit in federal court
in Seattle against the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The
lawsuit challenges two advisory committees set up to give the administration
input on trade policy relating to forest products. The panels are made up of
representatives from the wood and paper products industries and have no members
representing environmental interests, they argue.
A new agreement is expected to be signed by
many of the more than 130 nations scheduled to attend a meeting of the World Trade
Organization in Seattle in November. The new agreement could boost
consumption of wood products worldwide by 3% to 4%.
"It would be a big shot in the arm for the U.S. industry
and particularly for the Northwest," said Barry Polsky, a spokesman for the American
Forest and Paper Association.
• A deal between British Columbia and MacMillan
Bloedel involving Vancouver Island has environmentalists
stirred up.
The deal gives the provincial government the option of paying the
company $83.75 million in cash in compensation for lost timber rights on Crown land used
for new parks. The government also may privatize tracts of Crown land on the
island, an option that has angered environmentalists.
• A federal appeals court panel indicated it may reject a
timber company’s request to recover legal fees from an environmental group
that unsuccessfully sued over logging practices in California’s Humboldt County. But
judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also seemed troubled by three of the
court’s own conflicting precedents on fee awards.
Pacific Lumber Co. is trying to turn the tables
on its environmental critics. Environmentalists frequently request legal fees if they
prevail in litigation. Pacific Lumber says it deserves $670,000 in legal fees
because it won a lawsuit brought under the Endangered Species Act.
• The U.S. Forest Service closed a logging road on
Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon in an effort to block attempts by protestors
to supply an activist who suspended herself in a tree. The unidentified
woman rigged herself up in a cargo net 60 feet above the road.
It was the latest confrontation with the Forest Service
over logging in four areas known as the Eagle timber sale.
Several protesting tree-sitters have been demonstrating against the sales for
several months.
• A federal judge in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
refused to bring a halt to emergency logging around Hayden Lake.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge took no action after
listening to eight hours of testimony. He will consider arguments from
environmental groups, the Forest Service and private landowners before deciding
whether to block fast-track logging on 4,000 acres.
The Idaho Panhandle National Forest received permission from the Forest
Service in Washington, D.C. to start logging before appeals are resolved. The emergency
logging was approved because of fire danger posed by dying trees.
• Environmentalists are forging partnerships with
big corporations to achieve their agenda. Both are after the same thing — winning
over consumers.
Groups like Greenpeace have lost membership. To gain respectability,
they try to work with big business. Some companies are working with them
because they see a consumer demand for environmentally friendly products.
One example: the Forestry Stewardship Council, a
nonprofit group based in Mexico. It sets stringent international standards for timber
practices in order to earn the council’s "Sustainable Forest Product"
label. About 100 European companies have signed up, including Britain’s
largest home-improvement chain, B&Q. B&Q executives have pledged to buy certified
sustainable lumber products by next year.
• The Rainforest Action Network is starting up protests
again against Home Depot. The group wants Home Depot to stop selling
products made of old-growth wood. Home Depot has said it would limit the use of old-growth
products and that it works with a third-party certifier to verify that products are
environmentally sound.
An explosive device was found recently near the home improvement retailer’s
headquarters in Atlanta, but authorities said Rainforest Action Network was not
implicated.
