RACINE COUNTY PULLS PLUG ON HOME DEPOT AFTER
TESTIMONY: "HOME DEPOT SELLS OLD GROWTH WOOD"
FOREST PROTECTION LEADERS REJOICE AT DEFEAT
OF OUTLET FOR DESTRUCTIVE WOOD SALES
RACINE, Wisconsin - Home Depot's bid to build a new store was defeated by
the county council last night after testimony about the retail behemoth's
out-of-control sales of old growth wood. In a written statement, forest
protection leaders from Rainforest Action Network (RAN) informed the
Council that approximately twenty percent of the world's original old
growth forests are left, and Home Depot is the world's largest retailer of
old growth wood products. "In this day and age it's barbaric to cut down
and sell the world's last ancient forests," RAN's testimony concluded, and
implored Racine not to abet rainforest destruction.
"County boards and planning commissions are joining the fight to preserve
our last old growth forests," said RAN's Old Growth Campaign Director,
Michael Brune, who prepared the Council briefing documents. "Major change
always starts with local governments. The human rights campaign to end
apartheid in South Africa kicked into full gear after municipalities
started to divest holdings. Cities across the nation are taking a close
look at Home Depot's expansion plans in light of the company's role in
destroying the Earth's last original forests."
The Racine County Council also heard testimony from community groups that
opposed Home Depot because of urban sprawl and traffic concerns.
Many leading U.S. corporations including 3M, Kinko's, IBM, Nike and
Levi-Strauss are going old growth free. Europe's largest home improvement
retailer, B&Q, is now in the process of phasing out old growth wood sales
altogether.
"Other major corporations are phasing out of old growth," said RAN's
Brune,
"and other home improvement retailers are identifying old growth wood and
removing it from their shelves. There's no reason why Home Depot can't do
likewise."
The wide array of old growth products the retail behemoth carries includes
lumber from the ancient temperate rainforests of British Columbia, old
growth lauan and ramin from Southeast Asia, and bigleaf mahogany from
South
and Central America. Although the company has promised to sell a small
line of products that carry environmental certification, that volume is
surpassed time and again by the wood it sells from the planet's most
endangered forest regions.
Last week the International Botanical Society reported that habitat
destruction has increased extinction rates worldwide, rivaling the largest
mass extinctions in Earth's history. "How long will Home Depot wait?"
asked Brune; "how many species need to go extinct before Home Depot stops
selling old growth wood."
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Rainforest Action Network
221 Pine Stret #500
San Francisco, CA 94014
Telephone: 415/398-4404; fax: 415/398-2732
Website: http://www.ran.org