USFWS Agents Raid Gibson Guitar Factory In Search Of Illegally Purchased Madagascar Hardwood

Federal agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raided Gibson Guitar's factory Tuesday afternoon, due to concerns that the company had been using illegally harvested wood from Madagascar, reports the Nashville Post.

No one from the company was arrested during the raid but agents seized boxes of guitars, wood, computers, and boxes of files. The Fish and Wildlife Service took action under the Lacey Act, which holds U.S. companies to environmental laws in the countries from where they source plant and wildlife products.

Madagascar's rainforests have been plundered in recent months for rosewood and ebony, the woods Gibson Guitar is accused of using. The illicit harvesting to hardwoods in Madagascar has occurred in the aftermath of a coup which disposed the island nation's president. Illegal logging has also been linked with the slaughter of endangered lemurs.

U.S. authorities have recently intensified customs monitoring and inspection of wood products from Madagascar to stem illegal trade.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/11818-gibson.html

would the US have taken steps to ban the importation of them?

I say presumably, because there's always the question of enforcement. But the Lacey Act bans the importation-- even the possession-- of natural resources in any form that are not properly permitted by the country of origin. Strictly speaking, I think the purchasers of even American made guitars manufactured from illegal hardwoods would be liable for possession. That is certainly true for animal parts made into other things.

Ebony, mahogany, Koa, and Korina are a few. For guitars like Les Pauls and PRSs these woods are key in making them. Poaching for these woods is becoming a big problem since they fetch a premium price if they quality is good. If the woods are figured in some way the price goes up even more.

Some time ago I bought on Ebay, a roughly cut Telecaster style, Korina wood body. Later, I acquired two more Korina wood body blanks. I have often wondered if these pieces came from trees that may have been poached. There's no real way to find out.

Try real sandalwood. Two species of which have just about been wiped out to make fragrances and oils.

:evilgrin:

(from Nihil the keyboard player :P )

but was my instrument also theft of the biosphere?

I'm getting that ethically queasy feeling I got when I saw Blood Diamond a couple years after purchasing my wife's engagement ring.

earlier I read that the feds were going after the employers of the illegal workers in this country,