Illegal Russian logging hurts

endangered tigers
By McClatchy-Tribune, adapted by Newsela staff on 05.15.13
Word Count 769

Some 170 Siberian tigers sit behind high fences in Harbin, China. Michael Lev/Chicago Tribune

WASHINGTON – U.S. shoppers who buy hardwood floors and furniture made with Russian
timber, may unknowingly be hurting an endangered species (https://www.newsela.com/?
tag=endangered+species) of tiger.

That is the message of a report by the World Wildlife Fund. The study shows how loggers
in far eastern Russia are abusing permits that allow them to thin out diseased trees. Some
just flat-out break the law by logging on protected lands. These lands are the last
remaining habitat of the Amur tiger. The loggers are threatening old-growth Mongolian oak
trees and other species that are essential to the tiger's survival.

Environmental groups estimate that there are only about 450 Amur tigers left in the wild.

The Russian Far East includes the provinces of Khabarovsky and Primorsky. They are on
the border with China. Loggers there sell the oak to manufacturers in China. Chinese
manufacturers use the illegal wood in products exported to the United States and Europe,
the WWF said.

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Breaking the Food Chain

This logging threatens the Amur tiger, sometimes called the Siberian tiger. The Mongolian
oak trees are important to the food chain that feeds the tiger. The Mongolian oak drops
acorns that are eaten by deer and wild boar. Those animals are the Amur tiger's prey. With
the trees quickly disappearing, so are the tiger's food sources. New roads being built by
loggers also increase poaching of both the rare tiger and its prey.

"U.S. consumers can be adding to this without knowing it," said Linda Walker of the WWF.
Other wood species illegally logged are sent to China to be used in building products.
These are trees like Manchurian ash and Manchurian linden. All are similar to wood grown
in the United States. The products are then exported to the United States.

"There is no expert in the world who can tell from the appearance of the wood that this is a
different species," said Nikolay Shmatkov, who works for the WWF in Moscow. Shmatkov
deals with forest policy projects in Russia. He was on Capitol Hill on Monday to talk about
Russian logging. WWF officials watching forests in Russia's far-eastern provinces have
been menaced by companies that log illegally, he said.

Potential Trade Tiff

The WWF and other environmental groups are angry. From 2004 to 2011, oak timber
exports from Russia to China were two to four times the amount allowed. Shmatkov
estimated that from 2007 to 2008, Russian loggers went over legal limits in the tiger's
habitat by 52.9 million cubic feet of wood.

The issue could become a trade problem with Russia. The practice seems to violate 2008
amendments to the Lacey Act. The act is a sweeping nature protection law that was first
enacted in 1900. The 2008 amendments require American companies or individual
importers of forest products to make sure that the wood was obtained legally in the country
of origin.

The changes mean that U.S. companies now also have to follow the laws in the exporting
countries. They are also responsible for wrongdoing by suppliers or middlemen. It is not
enough to know that the product is coming from China. Importers must know where the
Chinese companies they do business with are getting their wood products.

The Lacey Act was in the news last year. The well-known guitar maker Gibson was
charged with violations related to imported wood. The act became a rallying cry for tea
party politicians. They used it as an example of government meddling. Gibson and the
federal government came to a deal to avoid prosecution in August. The company paid a
$350,000 fine and promised to improve oversight of its wood imports.

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"Fully enforcing this U.S. law by investigating highly risky Russian hardwood imports and
prosecuting proven violations will send a clear message that the largest consumer of wood
products is closing its doors to illegal wood and all its devastating consequences," said
Sascha von Bismarck, head of the Environmental Investigation Agency, or EIA. The EIA is
an environmental group that discovered many of the problems with Gibson's rare
hardwoods.

Outreach Abroad

The State Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture both have large outreach
programs abroad. The programs are intended to teach businesses how to follow the Lacey
Act's new rules.

To avoid making the problem worse, the WWF's Walker said consumers should try to buy
their hardwood products from companies that sell products certified by the Forest
Stewardship Council. Few Russian companies have such certification.

"Consumers can purchase FSC-certified flooring or furniture. That is the easiest way to
ensure that purchases are not adding to the destruction of the Russian Far East's last tiger
habitat," the WWF report said.

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Quiz

1 The author includes the first paragraph of the article to

(A) describe one species of tiger

(B) show how the Amur tiger is endangered

(C) warn U.S. shoppers who are looking for new floors

(D) make U.S. readers understand their connection to the Russian tigers

2 What is the primary reason cutting down oak trees poses a threat to the tiger's survival?

(A) The oak trees protect the tiger from prey.

(B) The oak trees provide shelter for the tiger.

(C) The leaves of the trees provide nutrition to the tigers.

(D) Oak trees are important in the food chain that feeds the tiger.

3 Which paragraph from the article BEST shows the effect the Lacey Act will have on the tiger's
future?

4 What effect did violating the Lacey Act have on Gibson, the well-known guitar maker in the
United States?

(A) The company was not allowed to export their products outside of the United
States.

(B) Tea party politicians rallied against the company for selling illegal products.

(C) Chinese and Russian companies stopped buying Gibson's guitars.

(D) The federal government fined Gibson guitars $350,000.

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