H.R. 1497: Legal Timber Protection Act

Here is the summary of a new legislation making it unlawful to import timber illegally harvested outside of the United States. Email or call your representative urging him or her to say yes to this bill. It is imperative that our ancient forests stay the way they are instead of changing into miles and miles of stump fields. It's easy to email your rep. Go to votesmart.org, imput your zip code, click on your reps webpage, and find the contact area. You can do this as much as you want! Peace.



H.R. 1497: Legal Timber Protection Act

The following summary is provided by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan government entity that serves Congress and is run by the Library of Congress. The summary is taken from the official website THOMAS.

3/13/2007--Introduced.
Legal Timber Protection Act - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to make it unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess any plant taken (i.e., captured, killed, harvested, or collected) in a foreign country that is: (1) taken, transported, or sold in violation of any law that applies in the place (including a park, forest reserve, or other officially protected area) where the harvest, taking, transport, or sale occurs; (2) taken without paying required royalties, taxes, or stumpage fees; (3) exported or transhipped in violation of any legal limitation; (4) taken, exported, or transhipped in violation of any international law, treaty, or international agreement, or (5) without any official documentation of compliance with applicable legal requirements.
Redefines "plant" to mean any wild member of the plant kingdom, including roots, seed, parts, and products thereof (but excluding common food crops and cultivars).