Boise Cascade to phase out old-growth logging - sep 03'

BOISE VICTORY!! BOISE VICTORY!!
A VICTORY FOR THE WORLD'S FORESTS

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

After years of hard-hitting campaigning by Rainforest Action Network, Boise Cascade Corporation, once the world's world's worst loggers, has committed to eliminate the logging and distribution of forest products from endangered areas. The announcement comes after a multi-year campaign lead by Rainforest Action Network and a coalition of groups including American Lands Alliance, Student Environmental Action Coalition, National Forest Protection Alliance, the Sierra Student Coalition, Free The Planet! and many others (see list below).

The Stop Boise campaign is part of the massive movement to shift the marketplace away from old growth wood products. The announcement comes on the heels of similar commitments made in recent years by leading companies like The Home Depot, Lowe's, Staples and Kinko's. With this commitment Boise has distanced itself from competitors such as International Paper, Georgia Pacific and Weyerhaeuser that still have not developed a strong company wide policy to protect the world's remaining old growth forests. RAN and other groups will continue to work with Boise to implement and strengthen their policy, specifically around Boise's involvement in SFI certification and their public lands logging.

Rainforest Action Network would like to thank everyone that helped to make this victory for our forests possible. From Australia, to Portland, Maine; from Portland, Oregon to Austin, Texas; from Guerrero, Mexico to Puerto Montt Chile; it was only through the combined efforts of so many dedicated people that this policy was created. Thanks for your commitment to the world's forests and their inhabitants!

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

As a result of three years of hard-hitting grassroots pressure:

->Boise will become the first major logger in the U.S. to adopt a comprehensive environmental policy for its operations.

->Boise will become the first distributor of wood and paper products to extend an environmental policy to its suppliers.

->Boise is withdrawing from its lawsuit against the U.S. Roadless Conservation Policy.

->Boise has moved from being the top logger on U.S. national forests in the 1990's to the 11th largest for saw timber and the 25th largest for non-saw timber in 2001.

->In 2000, because of international pressure, Boise cancelled the Cascada Chile project, the world's largest chipmill, which would have been located in the temperate rainforest of Chile.

More about Boise's Policy:

->Boise's policy will apply to both domestic and international operations and suppliers, and will apply to both Boise's paper division, Boise Office Solutions, and to Boise's wood division, Boise Building Solutions

->Boise is committing to eliminate forest products from endangered areas

->The company will track wood products through a thorough supply chain management system

->Boise is now prioritizing identifying and protecting endangered forests in key regions, including the U.S., Canadian Boreal, Chile, and Indonesia

->Boise is addressing the problem of plantation conversion in second-growth forests by committing to replant natural forests, minimize exotic species, and encourage their suppliers to do the same

->Boise will use its purchasing power to give preference to responsible suppliers and to extend its forest policies to suppliers

->Boise will work with major conservation organizations, including RAN, on its ongoing implementation of the policy

->For the first time, Boise is incorporating Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification into some of their operations

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

We would like to honor and send a big thanks to all of the individuals and organizations that have contributed to this campaign, including:

Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America
Alliance for the Wild Rockies
American Lands Alliance
Amnesty International
Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project
Boulder Rainforest Action Group
Campesino Organization of the Southern Sierra
Campus Greens
Cascadia Ecosystem Advocates
Cascadia Forest Alliance
Citizens of Williams, OR
Dogwood Alliance
Earth First!
Food Not Bombs
ForestEthics
Forest Action Network
Free the Planet!
Friends of Clayqout Sound
Friends of the Clearwater
Geo Austral
Greenpeace
Hells Canyon Preservation Council
Heritage Forest Campaign
Idaho Conservation League
Idaho Progressive Student Alliance
Idaho Sporting Congress
Illinois Student Environmental Network
Kettle Range Conservation Group
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center
League of Wilderness Defenders
Mexico Solidarity Network
Miguel Agustin Pro Center for Human Rights
National Forest Protection Alliance
Native Forest Council
Native Forest Network
Northern Rockies Preservation Project
Oxygen Collective
Rainforest Relief
Rethink Paper
Ruckus Society
Sierra Student Coalition
Student Environmental Action Coalition
Superior Wilderness Action Network
The Lands Council
The Sierra Club
The Siskiyou Project
Umpqua Watersheds Council
United Vision for Idaho
UPROAR
Williams Creek Watershed Council
World Balloon


Ashland Wilderness High School
Boise State University
Bowdoin College
Brown University
College of the Atlantic
Cornell University
Dartmouth
Environmental Middle School
Evergreen College
Grinnell
Hampshire College
Harvard University
Idaho State University
Illinois State University at Bloomington-Normal
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Purdue-Indianapolis
Kansas University
Kent State
Lewis and Clark
Middle Tennessee State University
Mt. Saint Antonio
Northwestern University
Notre Dame University
Oregon State University
Pacific Lutheran University
Peace College
Portland State University
Purdue University
Rhodes College
Rice University
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Southern Oregon University
SUNY Buffalo
Unity College
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Georgia
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Indiana
University of Iowa
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina at Asheville
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Texas at Austin
University of Vermont
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
University of Wisconsin Madison
University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
University of Wyoming
UW Stevens Point
Virginia Tech.
Western Washington University
Williams College

And all the great groups and people that we forgot to list!! Thanks for your inspiring work for the world's forests.

>From all of us at Rainforest Action Network
Wed, 3 Sep 2003


**************************
1- Wall Street Journal
2- Associated Press
3- The Home Channel News

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

September 3, 2003

The Wall Street Journal

Boise Cascade Turns Green

Paper Maker Will Stop Buying Wood From Endangered Forests

By JIM CARLTON Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Boise Cascade Corp. agreed to stop buying wood products from the world's endangered forests, bowing to the kind of intense pressure from customers and environmental activists that is increasingly leading forest-products purveyors to adopt greener practices.

In a statement expected to be released Wednesday, the Boise, Idaho, timber concern said it will end purchases of wood from endangered forests in places like Chile, Indonesia and Canada as such areas are mapped. Next year, Boise Cascade said, it will stop cutting timber from virgin forests in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the company said it will also start pressuring its suppliers to follow its lead, such as by giving purchasing preference to ones that provide paper and wood products from forests that are independently certified as being under healthy management. To help enforce the new policy, Boise said it will start tracking the origins of paper and wood products it receives.

The forest-protection policy is similar to those adopted in recent years by many retailers in the building-products industry. But it is the first, according to environmentalists, to be endorsed in such a large-scale way by a leading North American timber manufacturer. Boise's move comes as the money-losing timber producer is seeking to acquire the OfficeMax Inc. superstore chain for about $1.15 billion in cash and stock. Boise officials said the timing of the new policy is a coincidence.

Boise may have been losing business because of its previous refusal to avoid all endangered forests. For example, as many as two dozen corporate and academic customers dropped contracts with the company over the past two years, including copy company Kinko's Inc., activists estimate. "I think they know their consumer brand won't survive if it's attached to old-forest destruction," said Jennifer Krill, an organizer for the Rainforest Action Network, a San Francisco environmental group that led an activists' campaign that included calls for customer boycotts of Boise.

A Kinko's official confirmed that Boise's forestry practices didn't mesh with Kinko's recent policy of avoiding paper products from endangered forests, and that this was one reason the company switched to another supplier last year. Another big customer, Lowe's Cos. of Wilkesboro, N.C., said it "encouraged" Boise to negotiate an accord with the Rainforest Action Network to comply with its 2000 policy of phasing out wood from endangered forests.

"Market forces have been the most important factor in getting Boise to change their policies," said Lisa Leff, a portfolio manager for Trillium Assets Management Corp., a Boston-based investor in so-called socially responsible stocks, which until last year was a Boise shareholder. "And when you get companies like Kinko's dropping out, that speaks very loudly.

"Boise officials played down the loss of contracts, saying the customer base is often in a state of flux. But that so many of Boise's customers were adopting forest-protection policies, Boise officials said, prompted Boise to review what more it could do beyond a number of internal green initiatives they say the company has undertaken over the past decade. "We decided we ought to make sure what we are doing is aligned with what our customers are doing," said John Bender, Boise's senior vice president of building solutions.

The Rainforest Action Network targeted Boise shortly after helping pressure Home Depot Inc., the home-improvement retailer, into adopting a policy in 1999 of avoiding using products from endangered forests. Many other retailers followed suit. "We told them we thought this issue was settled in the marketplace," said Michael Brune, the group's executive director.

But when Boise declined to negotiate further, Mr. Brune said, his activists launched a series of campaigns to embarrass the company, such as when it flew a 120-foot-tall dinosaur-shaped hot-air balloon over Boise's headquarters. Boise officials called the tactics "a nuisance."

Then the activists began pressuring Boise's customers to cancel contracts with the company. Although Boise officials said no customers ever called to say such pressure was leading them to end a contract, officials at Lowe's said that beginning about eight months ago they pushed for the timber company to meet with the activists and heed some of their demands. Boise subsequently met several times with the environmental group, and is set to issue a joint press statement with the group Wednesday.

Write to Jim Carlton at jim.carlton [at] wsj.com Updated September 3, 2003

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

Associated Press

<http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/6682162.htm>


Posted on Wed, Sep. 03, 2003

Boise Cascade to Change Forest Policy
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho - Boise Cascade Corp. will no longer buy wood products from endangered or old-growth forests and will encourage its suppliers to do the same, company officials said Wednesday.

The forest products company has felt pressure from groups such as the Rainforest Action Network to adopt more environmentally sound policies. The new policy was developed with input from that group, the American Lands Alliance and the National Forest Protection Alliance.

Boise Cascade will stop cutting timber from old-growth forests in the U.S. in 2004, and will stop buying wood from endangered forests in places such as Chile, Indonesia and Canada as they are identified.

Boise Cascade will also give purchasing preference to suppliers who use wood from certified forests, and will track the origin of the wood products it receives.

"We are proud of the progress we've made," vice president John Bender said.

The company first announced in 2002 that it would stop harvesting the ancient trees in coming years. But industry analysts questioned whether the move would bring back customers who cut ties because of public sentiment against the practice.

Some customers, including Kinko's paper products and sportswear companies Patagonia and L.L. Bean, have stopped buying Boise Cascade products.

Environmental groups praised the new policy.

"We congratulate Boise for joining the growing number of U.S. companies that have taken steps to protect the world's last remaining endangered forests. Boise's leadership will be an important catalyst in ensuring that these areas are protected for future generations," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network.

The policy change comes as Boise Cascade is acquiring OfficeMax Inc., an office-supply store chain for about $1.15 billion.

In midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Boise Cascade shares were down 13 cents at $27.92.

ON THE NET

Boise Cascade: <http://www.bc.com>

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

>From Home Channel News:
<http://www.homechannelnews.com/story/?ID=3064>

Boise adopts environmental policy focused on endangered forests



Boise, Idaho - September 3 - Boise Cascade, the forest products company based here, has agreed to eliminate the purchase of wood products from endangered areas that have been "identified and mapped" by conservation groups. In a statement issued today, Boise said that it would stop harvesting timber from old-growth forests in the United States, effective in 2004.

In addition, Boise announced that it will work with governments, conservation groups and other organizations to identify endangered areas found in regions such as Chile, Indonesia,parts of the United States and Canada's boreal forests.

Boise said its actions make it "the first U.S. forest products company to adopt a comprehensive environmental statement and the first distributor of wood and paper products to extend an environmental policy to its suppliers."

The company plans to track the source of paper and wood products to the country, region, mill or other origin when data is available. Boise is also encouraging suppliers to participate in national and international certification programs.

"This statement formalizes Boise's commitment to environmental stewardship by linking the company's broad and varied environmental activities into a unified statement," said George Harad, Boise chairman and CEO.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network, said his organization is pleased with Boise's statement. "We congratulate Boise for joining the number of U.S. companies that have taken steps to protect the world's last remaining endangered forests," Brune said.

In May, Lanoga Corp., International Paper and Centex Homes agreed to stop purchasing wood products from Indonesia.



-----------------------

FAIR-USE NOTICE: This message may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner(s).
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only in the belief that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair
use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

-----------------------