SeaRAG Protests Weyerhaeuser, #1 destroyer of old growth forests, in downtown Seattle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 02/03/05

Justin Rolfe-Redding - 503-261-3349

justinrr@uchicago.edu

Seattle, WA - At 2:00 this afternoon, members of the Seattle Rainforest Action Group (SeaRAG) wielded tombstones that bore witness to the nations and regions threatened by Weyerhaeuser's destructive logging practices as they demonstrated outside Weyerhaeuser's downtown real estate offices.

The protestors used cardboard chainsaws and tombstones "engraved" with words such as "RIP First Nations Territory" and "RIP Polluted Watersheds" to raise awareness about the destructive logging policies of Washington-based logging giant Weyerhaeuser. A large banner bearing the words "Protect Endangered Forests Now! Don't Buy Weyerhaeuser!" was prominently displayed.

"We're here today to send Weyerhaeuser the message that they cannot continue to run roughshod over the world's last remaining old growth forests," declared Hannah McHardy, an organizer for the campaign. "We will not go away. Our actions in Seattle and throughout North America will keep increasing in size and intensity until CEO Steve Rogel agrees to do the right thing and adopt a policy that is truly sustainable. These forests are the lifeblood of our entire planet—we can't afford to lose them."

The demonstration is part of an ongoing international campaign led by Rainforest Action Network in conjunction with its allies across North America to transform the barbaric environmental practices of Weyerhaeuser, the number one destroyer of old growth and endangered forests in North America.

The campaign follows Rainforest Action Network's recent victory with Boise Cascade Corporation that resulted in the company's withdrawal from old-growth forests in the United States and adoption of a plan to exit endangered forests worldwide. Activists have already achieved some major breakthroughs. In August 2004, responding to an outpour of grassroots pressure, the popular grocery chain Trader Joe's agreed to stop purchasing Weyerhaeuser bags. Concerned citizens were also successful in convincing Weyerhaeuser to withdraw plans to log a beloved tract of woods in the small town of Pemberton, British Columbia this past September.

The Weyerhaeuser Company is one of the world's largest forest products companies with annual sales of over $19 billion. It owns or has long-term leases to over 43 million acres of forestland; and imports wood from tropical forest hotspots such as South America and Southeast Asia. Throughout the United States, Weyerhaeuser annually logs an average of over 70,000 acres on taxpayer-owned public lands. More than 50,000 square miles of Canadian public lands lay open to Weyerhaeuser's chainsaws, and each year it destroys 160,000 acres, primarily for export to the U.S. market.

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