Rainforest Action Network: "In a major breakthrough for the forest products industry, Boise Cascade Corporation (NYSE: BCC) today raised the bar for environmental standards with the release of �Boise and the Environment� (www.bc.com/environment/statement.pdf), a landmark, private sector commitment to forest protection. The announcement is one of the most important corporate advances in forest protection since Home Depot�s (NYSE: HD) commitment to stop selling wood from endangered forests, a victory that Time magazine rated the top environmental story of 1999. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) today sent letters to the 12 most environmentally destructive U.S. forest products companies challenging them to meet or beat Boise�s commitment (www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/old_growth/dirtydozen.html).
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Following Home Depot�s 1999 commitment to stop selling old growth wood, six of the world�s top 10 lumber retailers and three of America�s largest homebuilders joined over 400 other companies including Kinko�s, Levi-Strauss, and IKEA to make meaningful commitments to protect endangered forests. According to a 2001 Los Angeles Times poll, 9 in 10 Americans favor wilderness protection.
Nearly 80% of Earth�s virgin, old growth forests have already been destroyed or degraded, and 96% of America�s original forests are gone forever. Tropical rainforests contain at least half of all life on Earth, and global deforestation is causing a mass extinction of life, unparalleled since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. "