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For Sale: Chile’s Endangered Forests and Northwest Ancient Forests March 21, 2002 WHAT: Premier Chilean Lawyer Travels to Local Wood Supplier to Demand an End to the Destruction of Chile’s Forests by Multinational American Corporations. WHO: Cascadia Forest Alliance, Miguel Fredes from Southern Environmental Law Center (Chile), ForestEthics, Bark, and The Gifford-Pinchot Task Force. WHERE: BMC West, 20285 SW Cipole Road, Sherwood, OR 97140 WHEN: Monday, March 11, 2002 at Noon WHY: At the same time that the US is logging the last of its own native forests, it is also devastating the native forests of other countries. In places like Chile, native forests are being destroyed at a rate of 120,000 hectares/year, an area equal to three times the size of the city of Portland each year. BMC West is part of the U.S. wood distribution network that feeds this forest destruction in Chile, as well as in the Pacific Northwest. BMC West sells products derived from endangered forests, from the ancient forests on Alaska’s public land to the forests of Chile, which are being mowed down to create mono-culture tree farms that provide poor habitat for wildlife and require a create deal of toxic chemical spraying to sustain. Miguel Fredes, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chile, explains, “Chile’s native forests are becoming what U.S. forests have already become: a ‘green desert’ of tree farms. U.S. companies have exported this model of forest destruction and have become the #1 destination for the wood products feeding the green desert’s relentless expansion.” According to Sally Baker, of The Cascadia Forest Alliance, “After years of work on Mt. Hood Forest issues, Northwest activist are now taking our demands to the marketplace, to places like BMC, where informed citizens can protect both our forests and the forests in places like Chile with their purchasing power.” Press Advisory Contacts:
Kim Marks, Miguel Fredes |
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