Don't Decimate Rainforests to Make Guitars!
Gibson Guitar's CEO, Henry Juskiewicz, is trying to weaken a law that protects rain forests from unscrupulous manufacturers. Turns out that Gibson Guitars has been charged with manufacturing its products from wood illegally harvested from Madagascar rain forests, according to a recent article in the Washington Post.
Instead of taking his lumps and finding a source of sustainable wood, Juskiewicz is trying to change the law and put rainforests at risk by spreading fear among country musicians. Juskiewicz has convinced a number of music celebrities that the federal government is going to pry their beloved antique guitars from their warm, lively hands--despite assurances from feds that the law in question applies to manufacturers, not to individual consumers.
Tell Juskiewicz to stop attempting to weaken rain forest protections and find a good source of sustainably-harvested wood for the manufacture of Gibson guitars.
We the undersigned believe you have had plenty of time to pull your act together and start buying wood with the Forest Stewardship Council seal. The news that rainforests are the earth's lungs is not new news; it is at least thirty years old. Wood illegally harvested from rainforests contributes to global warming and endangerment of tropical wildlife. Worst of all, irresponsible forestry frequently displaces indigenous human communities who have no skills for living outside a rainforest.
Rainforest harvesters have even murdered forest dwellers who tried to protect their homes. We BEG OF YOU not to make the music industry part of this appalling practice. Musicians need to be standing up for justice--as they have so frequently done--not holding back progress in the form of needed forest protections.
