In early January, just after the new year, loggers from Claire Lathrop Co., a local logging outfit and lumber mill based in Bristol, VT, cut roughly 180,000 board feet of northern hardwood -- mostly maple -- from the Lincoln Brook II timber sale in the National Forest in Warren, VT. Previous to the cut, Lathrop had negotiated an amendment in their contract with the Forest Service to allow for the first time use of helicopter yarding in our National Forest.

Columbia Helicopter of Portland, OR provided the chopper, crew, and support team by way of Florida. The saw logs were yarded over the course of a week, and then, this reported by Vermont media sources, trucked via Lathrop to Boston harbor, where they would be shipped to China to be processed into maple flooring.

The National Forest was logged not only for the profit of Claire Lathrop, but for the profit of Chinese businessmen. I snowshoed into the 80 acre cut and witnessed first hand the effects of this "selective cut," with its mini-clear cuts and high grading, on the integrity of the forest canopy, slope stability, and wildlife habitat. As I looked at what was left of the hardwood stand, I thought of the loss of potential jobs during the cut. A small crew of local loggers made the cut, but then an out-of-state heli-logging crew finished the yarding, and out-of-state -- even out-of-country workers finished the job! Vermont workers had no part in the milling or processing of the maple trees cut in its National Forest. The hardwood maple flooring will not be used in Vermont, and if it is, will be sold back to us from China. Vermont workers, and National Forests, lost out with the Lincoln Brook II cut.

This story is probably familiar to many activists and organizers reading it, but what are some of the larger picture causes and players behind Public Lands timber sale fiascos like Lincoln Brook II? International trade agreements, like the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and NAFTA are increasingly having an effect on the use, and misuse, of our National Forests. The latest so-called "free" trade threat to our Public Lands is the Free Trade Area Of The Americas (FTAA), whichWestern Hemispheric trade reps. and government officials, including George >W. Bush -- who has made the FTAA a top priority on his economic agenda -- hope to pass into international trade law by 2005.

"Barriers" To Trade?

A growing number of forest protection organizers and activists have been learning about the Western Hemispheric threat of the FTAA against global forest ecosystems. In brief, and what may well be a review for many activists reading this email: the FTAA provides a two-pronged attack against our forests through the Advanced Tariff Liberalization Initiative (ATL) (Known as the Global Free Logging Agreement by its critics.); and the elimination of Non-tariff Barriers To Trade (NTBs).

The ATL seeks to eliminate most import and export tariffs on forest products, from raw saw logs, to wood chips and pulp, to fiber board, et. al. In a report by Victor Menotti, of the International Forum on Globalization, forestry consultant Jaako Poyry links tariff elimination on forest products to a potential 3-4% increase world-wide in the consumption in forest products. One doesn't have to make a huge leap to see that this increase will no doubt be followed by a rise in the international timber industry's downward spiral of unsustainable logging practices.

The NTB prong of the FTAA seeks to remove so-called "barriers" to trade -- the reality of this "free" trade facet is that environmental laws and regulations could be deemed a barrier to trade. If the FTAA goes through, multi-national timber could potentially take US forest communities, NGOs, or even state and national governments to court over environmental laws designed to protect our Public Lands!

Litigation Insanity

The vehicle that will allow for corporate timber to take legal action against environmental laws and regulations is the Investor-to-State Dispute Resolution, an amalgamation of WTO and NAFTA-related corporate/state settlement policies. For example, under NAFTA's Chapter 11 corporations can sue member countries if their laws impede "free" trade. THIS HAS ALREADY HAPPENED!

In January of 1997 California-based Metalclad sued the government of Mexico because the governor of the state of San Luis Potosi ruled against the construction of a hazardous waste dump. A NAFTA tribunal ruled that San Luis Potosi would pay Metalclad $16.7 million in compensation. . . . "Free" trade in action.

The FTAA and Our National Forests and Public Lands

In wrapping up, some rhetorical questions:

* How would the ability of multi-national timber corporations to sue NGOs, state, and national governments, because their work or environmental laws are considered a "barrier" to "free" trade, affect our work toward ending commerical logging on Public Lands, as well as the integrity of Public Lands in general?

* If the timber industry is given free rein to log National Forests, utilizing any timber company from any country, in any way possible, how would this affect the quality of our public forests, not to mention the quality and availability of jobs for regional timber workers?

* What would it be like if the US Forest Service became privatized -- purchased by Boise Cascade, for example?

TAKE A STAND: FIGHT FOR NATIONAL FOREST IN SOLIDARITY WITH FOREST AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND TIMBER WORKERS . . . . TAKE PART IN

NATIVE FOREST NETWORK'S INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR FORESTS AND AGAINST FREE TRADE: 10 COUNTRIES STRONG AND GROWING!

NFN invites National Forest protection activists, organizers, and organizations to join forest protection groups in a day of teach-ins, protest, and nonviolent direct action against "free" trade and for the forests -- and National Forests and Public Lands everywhere. These actions will be taking place on April 19th in the Northern Hemisphere, and April 20th in the Southern Hemisphere. We will be acting in solidarity with our brothers and sisters on the streets of Quebec City in the anti-FTAA protests and actions against the Summit of The Americas. See the attached email for details and respond with sign-ons, queries, and comments to the addresses appearing at the end of this message.

!ACTION ALERT ACTION ALERT ACTION ALERT ACTION ALERT ACTION!

CONTACTS:

Native Forest Network (NFN), Northern Hemisphere; Eastern North American Resource Center

NFN, Southern Hemisphere; NFN Tasmania. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR FORESTS AND AGAINST FREE TRADE: April 19th and 20th, world-wide.

Native Forest Network (NFN), a global autonomous network of forest protection organizations and representatives committed to protecting the world's remaining native forest ecosystems, as well as indigenous forest communities, call for an INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION FOR FORESTS AND AGAINST FREE TRADE ON: APRIL 19TH (Northern Hemisphere) and APRIL 20TH (Southern Hemisphere), 2001.

This day of action is being held in solidarity with direct actions against the SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, also occuring on the above dates. This summit of trade ministers, representatives, and government officals will be working toward the implementation of the FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS (FTAA).

The FTAA is the expansion of a NAFTA-like (North American Free Trade Agreement) throughout the Western Hemisphere, excluding Cuba. If the FTAA takes effect, it will provide the international timber industry with yet another incentive to decimate global forest ecosystems.

The Summit Of The America's trade minsters will be pushing the Advanced Tariff Liberalization (ATL), known by its critics as the Global Free LoggingAgreement (GFLA). The GFLA was tabled at the ill-fated November 1999 Seattle ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO), largely due to the work of activists, organizers, and citizens like ourselves. It seeks to eliminate tariff and non-tarriff barriers on raw logs and timber products. This is projected to increase the timber harvest globally by 3-4%, and thus provide further impetus for unsustainable logging practices in order to supply this gluttonous demand. The timber lobby will seek to move forward with this agreement this April at the Summit of The Americas in Quebec City.

In addition, the FTAA will nullify common sense regulatory measures including Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade (NTBs). NTBs include: sanitary/phyto-sanitary regulations, regulations controlling the flow of uninspected forest products, possible hosts to ecosystem- ravaging invasive species, as well as GENETICALLY ENGINEERED TREES. Common sense regulatory measures like state, regional, national, and international environmental laws protecting workers, prohibiting toxics, and controlling pollution, among others will be nullified by the FTAA. The FTAA will provide legal avenues for the timber industries to expand their operations to previously unlogged areas with less regulations and no accountability. The FTAA is a direct threat to the ability of forest communities to decide how to utilize and protect local forest ecosystems.

JOIN US!

In a day of protest and nonviolent direct action against the explosion of multinational corporate globalization that threatens our world's forestecosystems and climate with unregulated logging practices, increases demand for forest products, and continues deforestation on a global scale.

JOIN US!

As forest protection groups around the world work in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Quebec City during the days of action during the Summit of the Americas against the FTAA: a thoroughly undemocratic body meeting behind closed doors, make sweeping hemispheric economic policies that will affect international forests, and, in the end, all of us.

JOIN US!

In resisting the FTAA's disastrous effect on global forest ecosystems and climate. The FTAA would prioritize the free flow of goods, services,and products across international borders, without a thought for workers, indigenous peoples, and forest communities.

SIGN ON:

Sign your organization on and join the growing international resistance, which will only continue to grow after the days of action on April 19/20th. Contact the following NFN representatives (Northern and Southern Hemispheres respectively.) and let us know what you are planning for an action. The idea is to see who is working where, and then come together to share information and resources, network, educate our forest communities about the FTAA, and make connections within the international forest protection community for the long term campaign against globalization, including the FTAA's, effects on native forest ecosystems.

Organization Sign-up List:

Native Forest Network NFN Tasmania NFN New Zealand NFN Australia NFN-Western North American Resource Center NFN Yellowstone, MT, USA NFN-Southwestern USA NFN- Eastern North American Resource Center Nairobi, Kenya Node of ECOTERRA INTL. (Actions also in Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, and Tanzania!) Szymon Ciapaza, with Nature Protection Polish Science Academy, Krakow, Poland (Everyone: please correct me if I misspell your name or your group's name.) Action! club at University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada Public Information Network, Seattle, WA, USA Brian Mack, student journalist living in Santa Cruz, CA, USA Global Response, CO, USA Blue Ridge EF!, Williamsburg, VA, USA MA EF!, MA, USA

GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING TOOLS AVAILABLE THROUGH ACERCA (ACTION FOR COMMUNITY AND ECOLOGY IN THE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AMERICA) AND NATIVE FOREST NETWORK.

IN-DEPTH FTAA ANALYSIS AND ACTION PACKETS INCLUDED, FRENCH AND SPANISH TRANSLATIONS SOON AVAILABLE ON THE WEB @ www.nativeforest.org and www.acerca.org.

* Be on the look-out for an electronic mini-IDA action packet coming your way with organizing, educational, and messaging tools that can be reproduced and used in your action.