Rainforest Action Network Begins Investor Education Campaign

Common Dreams, Progressive Newswire
MARCH 29, 2007

CONTACT: The Rainforest Action Network
415 398 4404 | 415 398 2732 fax | answers@ran.org

Investors Warned About Weyerhaeuser’s Environmental and Human Rights Problems

Rainforest Action Network Begins Investor Education Campaign in Advance of Lumber Giant’s April Shareholder Meeting

San Francisco – This week, hundreds of responsible investors in Canada and the United States began receiving letters from Rainforest Action Network detailing the extent of Weyerhaeuser Corporation’s (NYSE:WY) environmental and human rights violations.

The letters request that responsible investors “engage with Weyerhaeuser over the rights and interests of the Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario, and their refusal to adopt the Forest Stewardship Council’s certification standards.” The letters endorse a shareholder resolution filed by Capital Strategies Consulting, Inc., requesting “a feasibility assessment to suspend wood procurement from Grassy Narrows’ territory until the free, prior, and informed consent of the community has been established.” The resolution contends that Weyerhaeuser’s ongoing procurement of wood from Grassy Narrows’ territory is an unnecessary violation of internationally recognized human rights and established industry best practices. Independent research shows that the Ontario Province could respect Grassy Narrows’ call for a moratorium on non-consensual logging without sacrificing jobs by re-directing unused hardwood supplies from other less controversial regional forests to Weyerhaeuser’s Timberstand mill in Kenora, Ontario.

At issue is Weyerhaeuser’s procurement from clear-cut logging done without consent on Grassy Narrows traditional territory. Weyerhaeuser is the sole purchaser of hardwood from Grassy Narrows territory each year, making it the largest purchaser of wood from the contested area. Canadian logging company Abitibi Consolidated currently holds logging rights to Grassy Narrows territory granted by the Ontario government. Grassy Narrows contests these licenses as a violation of their Indigenous rights under Treaty 3. Treaty 3 stipulates that Indigenous people have the right to use their land for traditional practices such as hunting, trapping, and fishing- all of which are threatened in Grassy Narrows because of the continued clear-cut logging.

Amnesty International Canada has also sent letters to investors, outlining their concerns about the company’s human rights practices with regard to the Grassy Narrows First Nation, citing that: “Amnesty International believes that all companies share a responsibility to promote and protect human rights within their operations. As a North American business leader, Weyerhaeuser has an obligation to respect the human rights of First Nations communities in those areas where it conducts business. The company should not proceed unless appropriate consultations have indicated that the community has given its free, prior informed consent. Failure to do so exposes investors to potential risk. Amnesty Canada urges Weyerhaeuser to vote in favour of this resolution at the upcoming AGM and to recommend this action to its shareholders.”

“Calvert is deeply concerned by the ongoing dispute between Grassy Narrows, the government of Ontario, and forest products companies including Weyerhaeuser,” said Stu Dalheim, manager of advocacy and policy for the mutual fund company. “Through our dialogue with the company we are calling upon Weyerhaeuser to stop sourcing wood from Grassy Narrow’s traditional territory until the community provides its free prior informed consent.”

“Most people recognize that clear-cut logging on Indigenous land is bad for human rights and the environment, but the business case against these destructive practices is just as clear.” said Brant Olson, Old Growth campaign director at Rainforest Action Network. “Steve Rogel has a duty to inform investors about the risks associated with relying on clear-cut logging in Grassy Narrows and a responsibility to pursue less ecologically and socially damaging alternatives.”

For more information, visit www.RAN.org , www.Amnesty.ca /campaigns/sharepower, or www.FreeGrassy.org .