For Immediate Release: November 21, 2003
Contact: Paul West,
Rainforest Action Network, (415) 398-4404, x319,
pwest@no.addressNEW ECOLABEL DECEIVES
CONSUMERS
NATURAL FORESTS BEING CONVERTED TO TOXIC TREE FARMS
NEW
REPORTS ON TIMBER INDUSTRY REVEAL DECEPTION AND DESTRUCTION
SAN
FRANCISCO - American Lands Alliance today released two shocking
reports
that tell the truth behind the timber industry's new "SFI" ecolabel.
A
72-page detailed analysis of the American Forest & Paper
Association's
(AF&PA) Sustainable Foresty Initiative (SFI) documents the
glaring
differences between what the timber industry says in its advertising
and
does on the ground. A 15-page case study of Sierra Pacific Industries,
an
SFI-certified company, documents the wholesale destruction of
California's
natural forests by one of the largest privately held timberland
owners in
North America.
"Consumers have a right to expect truth in
labeling, and the SFI label is
certified deception. The SFI program is the
biggest greenwashing scheme in
recent history. SFI-labeled wood and
paper are the products of forest
destruction. Clearcuts and toxic tree
farms are not sustainable healthy
forests." Randi Spivak, executive
director of American Lands Alliance.
ON THE GROUND
The reports
highlight how the SFI program certifies outdated and egregious
practices
including the logging of old growth, wilderness areas, endangered
species'
habitat and taxpayer-owned public forests. The reports show
that
SFI-certified companies continue to use massive clearcutting and
the
intensive and repeated spraying of deadly chemicals to convert
biologically
rich natural forests into ecologically bankrupt tree farms while
at the same
time marketing their products as
sustainable.
Certification of forest destroyers like Sierra Pacific
proves that the SFI
lacks an environmentally meaningful bottom line.
Sierra Pacific is
currently converting 70% of its 1.4 million acres of
natural forest to toxic
tree farms. Clearcutting comprised only 2% of
Sierra Pacific's logging
operations 1995, and skyrocketed to 87% in
1999. The company routinely
applies deadly herbicides up to three times
on each clearcut to prevent
regeneration of native species.
In the
southern United States, companies like Bowater continue to convert
native
hardwood forests to pine plantations. In Montana's Swan Valley,
Plum
Creek continues to log endangered old growth. In Canada, Weldwood,
a
subsidiary of International Paper, is actively logging mature and old
growth
forests. In Virginia, Allegheny Wood Products plans to log
habitat for
endangered species including the West Virginia flying
squirrel.
IN THE MARKETPLACE
The SFI program was originally
launched as a marketing scheme by the AF&PA,
the largest timber industry
trade association in North America. In response
to legitimate
certification and labeling programs like the Forest
Stewardship Council
(FSC), the SFI program introduced its own "green" label
in 2002. Unlike
strict standards for organic and fair-trade food products,
the SFI program
and its label offers consumers no reliable assurances about
the source of its
wood and paper. Despite recent improvements, the SFI
standards are so weak
that most environmental groups, progressive businesses
and the U.S. Green
Building Council do not recognize the program or its
label as an
environmentally credible certification program
Consumers and other
decision makers are being targeted by misleading
marketing claims in SFI
advertising appearing in media outlets ranging from
the Wall Street Journal
to National Public Radio. Almost fifty wood and
paper products companies in
North America are now certified as "sustainable"
by the SFI program, and
pallets of wood bearing the SFI label are starting
to arrive at leading home
improvement retailers across the North America.
REPORTS AVAILABLE FOR
DOWNLOAD:
Assessment of AF&PA Sustainable Forestry Initiative
(SFI):
http://www.americanlands.org/SFI%20Report%20Nov%202003-Final.pdfSummary
of Assessment of AF&PA SFI:
http://www.americanlands.org/SFI%20Report%20Summary%20Nov%202003-Final.pdfCase
Study on Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI):
http://www.americanlands.org/SPI%20Case%20Study--Final.pdfFOR
CAMERA CREWS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS:
LightHawk flights over Sierra Pacific
lands available upon request.
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