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10/30/02
Accusations
against Boise are unfounded
Boise
is a company deeply committed to conservation values and the practice
of sustainable forestry. We helped to create and strongly support
the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFISM) program. This program,
a partnership between forest products manufacturers, conservation
organizations, public agencies, foundations and academic institutions,
was just awarded a 2002 World Summit Business Award for Sustainable
Development Partnerships by the International Chamber of Commerce
and the U.N. Environmental Programme.
The column "Boise destroys picture of nature" by Mike
Pesa unfortunately repeats allegations by an activist group about
Boise that are inaccurate, misleading and false. We have set the record
straight time and time again. This group has repeatedly ignored the
information we provide.
Here are the facts:
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Accusations by this activist group about our former operations in
Mexico are absolutely false and defamatory. In fact, this group
has admitted subsequently that Boise was in no way involved in human
rights incidents. We believe the quotation cited by Rodolfo Montiel
specifically referencing Boise's logging practices is fabricated.
We have a videotape of the conversation from which this quotation
is apparently taken and Mr. Montiel does not cite Boise by name.
Our name appears to have been inserted without any reason other
than to create a false accusation. Boise neither conducted nor supervised
logging in Mexico, but rather bought logs from local private families
who conducted logging, as they had traditionally, under the supervision
of the Mexican forest service.
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Boise has announced our intent to phase out logging of old-growth
forests by 2004. In March 2002, Boise announced our 24-month phase-out
period to enable Boise to meet its contractual obligations on previously
purchased timber sales. Federal rules require Boise to meet these
contractual obligations. During this two-year phase-out period,
we will meet our existing commitments, but we will not make any
new commitments to harvest timber from old-growth forests. There
are no old-growth forests on the timberlands that Boise owns or
controls.
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Boise ranks 11th among companies purchasing saw timber from federal
lands. About nine percent of the wood fiber we use comes from government
sources.
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Boise harvests timber in the United States and Brazil. In Brazil
we harvest eucalyptus from long-established plantations. We obtain
some wood through long-term contracts with Canadian provincial governments.
We have neither forest holdings nor harvesting operations anywhere
else in the world.
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Wood products containing tropical wood comprise less than one percent
of our total building materials distribution sales. The majority
of these products come from certified sustainable forests.
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Boise is one of more than 40 plaintiffs in eight separate lawsuits
filed against the Roadless Rule. The lawsuit in which Boise is involved
was filed by a ten-member coalition including several recreation
groups, two Idaho counties and a Native American tribe. The states
of Idaho, Alaska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and the
governor of Montana also filed lawsuits challenging the rule, as
did a coalition of industry associations representing most U.S.
paper and forest products companies. These lawsuits have maintained
that the Roadless Rule process was predetermined and one-sided and
failed to consider the long-term health of our national forests.
On April 6, 2001, the U.S. District Court for the District
of Idaho agreed and found that "the comment period was grossly inadequate
and thus deprived the public of any meaningful dialogue or input into
the process -- an obvious violation of NEPA (National Environmental
Policy Act)."
We at Boise support and encourage debate on issues of
public concern. But that debate must be based on facts, not misinformation
and false accusations. We want to assure you that this attack on our
company is unfounded.
Ralph Poore is a media relations manager for the
Boise Cascade Corporation and guest columnist for the Daily Kent
Stater.
Copyright
2002 The Daily Kent Stater
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