Incredibly, America has no law against importing illegally harvested wood into the U.S. Yet the insatiable demand for cheap wood products and luxury hardwoods in the United States, Europe and Japan drives illegal logging operations worldwide -- logging that destroys vital habitat for endangered orangutans, tigers, and other wildlife.
Take action now to save orangutans and other wildlife threatened by illegal logging. Urge your Senators to support the Wyden-Alexander Amendment to the 2007 Federal Farm Bill which would make it a crime in America to knowingly import, sell, buy or transport illegally-sourced wood and wood products.
Please Support the Wyden-Alexander Amendment to the Farm Bill
Dear Senators,
I strongly urge you to co-sponsor and support the Wyden-Alexander Amendment to the Federal Farm Bill; this amendment would make it illegal to knowingly import, sell, buy or transport illegally-sourced wood and wood products in the United States.
The Wyden-Alexander Amendment is supported by a broad coalition, including the timer industry, conservation organizations, and politicians on both sides of the aisle. This amendment would strengthen our ability to fight illegal timber traffickers and will help businesses that do the right thing and sell legally harvested wood by leveling the playing field.
Illegal logging often occurs in national parks and reserves, destroying large areas of intact habitat many critically endangered species depend on for survival. Around the world, wildlife habitat is being destroyed:
* The government of Indonesia estimates that 73% of all logging in the country is illegal; the U.N. estimates that 98% of Indonesia's forests -- home to orangutans, sun bears, tigers and rhinos -- could disappear within 20 years.
* Eighty percent of Peruvian mahogany is illegally logged and the majority of it is sent to the United States. Jaguars, ocelots, and macaws all depend on the disappearing rainforests of the Peruvian Amazon.
* The Far Eastern forests of Russia, home to the Amur tiger, the largest living cat in the world, are being devastated for furniture production in China, which then exports cheap wood products to the U.S.
The insatiable demand for cheap wood products and luxury hardwoods in the United States, Europe and Japan is driving illegal logging operations worldwide. Yet America has no law against importing illegally harvested wood into the U.S.
It's time to stop subsidizing the destruction of vital wildlife habitat. I strongly urge you to co-sponsor the Wyden-Alexander Amendment to protect habitat for the world's disappearing wildlife.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
