October 9, 2007

The Honorable Ron Wyden

230 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Wyden:

On behalf of the National Association of State Foresters, representing the nation's state and territorial foresters, I would like to thank you for sponsoring S.1930, the Combat Illegal Logging Act of 2007 (CILA). Illegal logging compromises the economic, environmental, and social objectives of sustainable forestry. For this reason, NASF agrees with the many supporters of this important legislation.

Illegal logging undermines sustainable forest management, destroys ecosystems and economies, contributes to carbon emissions, and often comes at the highest cost to struggling rural communities. Illegal logging forces American businesses and workers to compete against forest products at artificially low prices. Illegal logging costs the U.S. forest products industry an estimated $1 billion per year in depressed prices and reduced exports, and contributes to ongoing mill closures and job losses.

We support the incentive driven approach of the CILA, which will raise the risks of illegal trade and help level a playing field currently stacked against the U.S. forest products industry, importers, and retailers committed to trading in legal wood products. S.1930 will also bring the power of the U.S. market to bear on fighting the illegal timber trade and will reinforce work being done with U.S. tax dollars to improve governance in forest-rich developing countries.

In the spirit of improvement and clarification of the Act's implementation, NASF would like to offer our thoughts on how the bill could be enhanced to better address the threats posed by illegal logging.

Our reading of the CILA indicates that inter-state trafficking of wood from domestic "timber theft" cases would be subject to Lacey Act prosecution. This means that what previously may have been a state issue could potentially now fall within federal jurisdiction. This could result in the inclusion of violations of state forest practices regulations, not just clear-cut "timber theft". There may be implications as forest practices regulations differ between states. It is also unclear in the CILA what federal agency will be enforcing the domestic provisions. Coordination and cooperation between the relevant federal agency and the states will be critical for successful domestic implementation.

In regard to the declaration requirement to facilitate the Lacey Act's enforcement for timber, we appreciate efforts to minimize the disruption to the nation's timber and wood-product importers' businesses. For the many companies who already play by the rules, the Act's requirements should result in minimal changes to business practices as we believe that U.S. importing companies should take steps to ensure the legality of the raw material used to make their wood products. It is possible that U.S. wood exporters may have increased documentation requirements, as any wood re-imported would have to be declared and potentially verified.

Passage of the CILA will do much to address a problem that is harming the global environment, our climate, and human communities both in the United States and abroad. The Act sends a strong signal to world markets that wood products harvested illegally will no longer be acceptable in the United States.

We look forward to working with you to refine this vital legislation.

With warm regards,

Kirk Rowdabaugh,

President, National Association of State Foresters

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