***********************************************

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Rainforest Action Network Stops Mitsubishi's Massive Raw Log Export Ship

***********************************************

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

10/29/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Following is a press release from RAN which details their daring direct action

to draw attention to export logging in the United States. It is unconscionable

that once over logging of ancient forests continues in the U.S. where less than

4% of the original native forest cover remains. Mitsubishi is the largest

destroyer of rainforests in the world. Please Boycott Mitsubishi.

g.b.

*******************************

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 12:56:25 -0800 (PST)

From: ranmedia@ran.org (Mark Westlund)

Subject: Activists stop Mitsubishi logging ship in WA

For Immediate Release, October 29, 1996

Contact Mark Westlund--ranmedia@ran.org

RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK STOPS MITSUBISHI'S

MASSIVE RAW LOG EXPORT SHIP!

DEMONSTRATORS TAKE DARING DIRECT ACTION TO

PREVENT SHIP FROM LEAVING PORT

LONGVIEW, Washginton -- Today at dawn, activists from Rainforest Action

Network shut down the massive raw log export ship, *Super Rubin*, at the

port of Longview, WA. Three climbers rappelled off the side of the boat

with a 60 foot banner. The message reads "PROTECT OUR FORESTS, STOP RAW LOG

EXPORTS, BOYCOTT MITSUBISHI!" Three more demonstrators have secured

themselves to perches high atop the ship's loading cranes, and four people

have locked themselves by the neck of the deck of the Super Rubin to halt

the destruction and export of Northwest forests.

*Super Rubin* is one of many ships used by Mitsubishi to export unprocessed

timber from Oregon and Washington to various destinations overseas. From

January to August of 1996, 104,000 tons of raw logs were exported by

Mitsubishi from the Longview, WA port alone, which accounts for only 19% of

the total shipments documented for that time. Mitsubishi is the largest

corporation in the world and one of the largest exporters of whole logs

from Washington and Oregon, causing the loss of thousands of US jobs.

In addition to its exporting logs from the Pacific Northwest, Mitsubishi

Corporation trades in logs and runs destructive logging operations in

Canada, Southeast Asia and the Amazon. An independent study done this year

by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that Mitsubishi's global

operations make it the world's worst destroyer of rainforests. For

instance, a Mitsubishi-operated disposable chop-stick factory in British

Colombia's temperate rainforest discards 85% of the trees it cuts down

because the wood isn't white enough.

Mitsubishi's log exports heavily impact the Northwest by severely damaging

our forest ecosystems and exporting jobs overseas. Local communities that

depend on sustainable logging practices are left in environmental and

economic turmoil as saw mills close up and down the US Pacific coast. The

protesters are calling for a boycott of all Mitsubishi products until the

corporate giant halts the destruction and export of our Northwest forest.

Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and

support the rights of their inhabitants through education, grassroots

organizing, and non-violent direct action.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

You are encouraged to utilize this information for personal campaign use. All

efforts are made to provide accurate, timely pieces; though ultimate

responsibility for verifying all information rests with the reader. Check out

our Gaia Forest Conservation Archives at URL=

http://forests.org/

Networked by:

Ecological Enterprises

Email (best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org