Conservationists Urge Environmental Solutions in This Week's U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Talks
Copyright 2001 U.S. Newswire
November 12, 2001
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Conservationists are calling on U.S. and Canadian softwood lumber trade negotiators to eliminate Canadian financial and environmental forestry subsidies. This week starts a new round of softwood lumber trade negotiations in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has ruled that the Canadian timber industry is unfairly subsidized by the provincial governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and that it dumps below-value softwood lumber products on U.S. markets. Consequently, duties in excess of 30 percent will apply to many Canadian wood products entering the United States, unless a deal is struck to fix the underlying forestry problems in Canada.
"The time has come to end the hardship faced not only by Canada's forestry communities, but also by Canada's forests," said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "The current U.S. tariff on Canadian wood provides the opportunity for Canadian provinces to implement forest policy reforms that are decades overdue."
"This week's binational lumber discussions are a historic opportunity to intelligently mesh the environmental and economic challenges facing timber producers in North America," said William Snape, vice president for legal affairs at Defenders of Wildlife. "If the governments of the United States and Canada do not actively seek to protect transboundary wildlife such as the grizzly bear, woodland caribou or bull trout, any deal on softwood lumber will ultimately fail."
Conservationists are advocating inclusion of environmental issues in these discussions including environmental sustainability and forest management practices; tenure reform that includes local community, environmental and First Nations interests; pricing reforms to achieve transparent and verifiable market pricing; and a democratic process that includes communities, NGOs, and First Nations.
"There is unanimity among American and Canadian conservationists, and even the governments of the two countries that certain Canadian logging practices are severely harming already stressed ecosystems and endangered species," explained Joe Scott, conservation director for Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, based in Bellingham, Wash. "To stop the overcut of Canadian forests, the Canadian timber industry must account not only for the fair market value of the wood, but also for the ecological values of our shared forests."