Hardwood Industry Defends Law Gibson Is Fighting

The hardwood industry is defending a law that has come under attack from Gibson Guitar and Tennessee lawmakers. The National Hardwood Lumber Association helped write the regulations and held its annual convention in Nashville over the weekend.

Mark Barford, CEO of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, poses in front of the convention stage decorated with guitars.

The Lacey Act, which was revised in 2008 to include timber, is meant to promote conservation in other countries and keep illegally harvested products out of the U.S., thereby making American wood more competitive. Mark Barford is CEO of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, which is headquartered in Memphis.

 

“We don’t claim that this is supported by 100 percent of our members. We just claim that it is in general a good deal for them in the future and the long term way we deal with other countries.”

But people like Republican Congressman Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood have criticized the Gibson raid and suggested the Lacey Act is being selectively enforced. She’s spoken on behalf of the guitar maker, which is under federal investigation for purchasing illegally harvested ebony and rosewood.

Gibson is an iconic company, but a tiny part of the industry, says Jamey French, CEO of Northland Forest Products. Politicians, he says, don’t see that.

“I think they haven’t really studied the other side of the story very carefully, and they might need to listen to some of the domestic industry in Tennessee particularly who have been helped by this act.”

French previously headed the DC-based Hardwood Federation and says the housing bust has cut demand in half since 2006. The decline would have been even worse, he says, were it not for the Lacey Act.

Over the weekend, Congressman Marsha Blackburn did appear before the Hardwood Association, though the meeting was closed to reporters.

*The original version of this story stated Blackburn wants the Lacey Act rolled back. The Congressman has called for broad roll backs of environmental regulations, but her office says she has not asked for changes to the Lacey Act.