Suit To Block US Imports Of Mahogany - "No Comment" From BushCo

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON - U.S. environmentalists and two Peruvian groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday pressing the Bush administration to block imports of mahogany from Peru. The mahogany, harvested in protected natural areas of the Peruvian rain forest, is shipped to the United States for use in high-end furniture, automobile dashboards and fancy wood trim in homes.

The lawsuit alleges the imports violate the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, known as the international CITES treaty.

Big-leaf mahogany, grown in Central and South America is listed under the CITES treaty as endangered, requiring regulation through export permits. But the lawsuit contends Peruvian authorities have not been able to control illegal harvesting of the huge trees that grow to 500 feet or more and take 60 years to mature.

The suit, filed with the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, names the Department of Homeland Security, the Interior Department and the Department of Agriculture as well as three U.S. importers. Jim Rogers, a spokesman for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said because of the legal action the agency could not comment on the lawsuit. Interior officials also declined to comment on the lawsuit and Homeland Security did not immediately return a phone call.

EDIT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13186275/

[murray hill farm]

1. That is so sad...

We wiped out a good part of all mahogany growth forests in Belize and most of central america..and in south america...and when this is finally recognized as the horrid destruction that it is, then it still goes on illegally. recommended..and i hope others will do so also...i would like to see this topic receive the attention it so deserves.