In 1997, Rainforest Relief began an effort to compel the New York City Council tp end the City’s uses of rainforest woods. With the help of Rainforest Relief and New York City Sierra Club, Councilmember Gifford Miller introduced a bill to bar the City government from purchasing tropical hardwoods unless they carried independent certification, accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The initial bill was moving toward passage until Apkindo, the association of plywood exporters of Indonesia, hired a Washington, DC law firm to oppose the bill. The firm threatened to sue the council over the bill should it pass, on the grounds that it was preëmpted by the New York State bill, passed in 1991. The state bill banned the use of certain tropical woods by the state government and all municipalities within the state, including New York City. Because of the state's constitution, this meant the state had "occupied the field" and measures by municipalities were supposedly disallowed.

While we find this debatable and encouraged the sponsor to move forward, a coalition of groups worked with Miller's office to rewrite the bill in a way that would avoid the preemption of the state's tropical timber bill.

The bill’s current language calls for the City to seek environmentally preferable alternatives to wood, such as recycled materials and bio-based materials made from agricultural residue and when using wood, to use only wood accredited by the FSC (unless it costs more than 15% over uncertified wood).

There are real questions as to whether this bill, if passed, will actually stop the use of tropical hardwoods by state agencies, since most of the certified tropical wood is 15% to 20% higher in cost. This is because tropical forests are most often being logged illegally and very little taxes are paid to governments. As well, labor costs are low or non-existent (as in the case of some operations in Brazil that use forced or indentured laborers and many operations in Burma, sponsored by the military, that use forced labor). Certification necessitates that wood be from legal operations at the very least. Therefore, costs of the wood are higher comparatively.

Still, the bill will create a hierarchy of materials with bio-based and recycled alternatives at the top.

You can help by supporting the bill. If you live in New York City, Contact your City Councilmember and urge them to support Bill 108-A. If you live outside the city, contact Mayor Bloomberg and ask him to support the bill.

To find out your City Council member, click herehttp://www.cmap.nypirg.org/>.

You can also help by supporting our campaign to stop NYC agencies' rainforest wood use.