Music | October 25, 2011 | 42 comments

Luthiers: The Latest Endangered Species

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/opinion/are-guitar-makers-an-endangered-species.html?_r=2&...

"WHEN federal authorities raided the headquarters of the Gibson Guitar Corporation in late August, seizing wood they said was illegally exported from India, conservative critics denounced the episode as an example of regulatory overreach. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and now Republican presidential hopeful, accused the Obama administration of having a “vendetta” against small businesses; the current speaker, John A. Boehner, invited Gibson’s owner, Henry E. Juszkiewicz, to sit in the speaker’s box during President Obama’s jobs speech last month.

The law that investigators enforced in the August raid is indeed flawed — but not for the reasons critics cite. Large companies like Gibson, if they source their wood carefully, should be O.K. The people who are truly in jeopardy are some of the finest artisanal guitar makers in the United States and Canada. Unlike Gibson, these independent artisans — also called luthiers — have been charged with no crime, but their livelihoods and life savings are at risk nonetheless."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/opinion/are-guitar-makers-an-endangered-specie...
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Please take the time to read this short article. Music is a large part of the lives of many here - this is hitting close to home for at least one good friend of mine, and he asked that I post this for the Current community.
  1. groups:
    Community,   News and Politics,   Music,   Green,   4 more
  2. tags:
    Music,  Guitar,  Gibson,  artisans,  1 more
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42 comments // Luthiers: The Latest Endangered Species

  • Child_of_Corn
  • ClassicalGas
  • Orcas_Island
  • oboith
    • +2
      oboith  

    • Hasn't i occurred to anyone here that American legislators are being lobbied intensely by the Asian pirates who have no laws, and care nothing about the environment or the rest of the world. They're trying to eliminate American quality and production while they pillage the forests of the planet.

    • 7 months ago
  • CobaltBlueDog
    • +5
      CobaltBlueDog  

    • I need to get back to work, but I want to thank EVERYONE who is taking part in this discussion. For the guitarmaking community the uneven enforcement has been a nightmare. I truly hope we can all pull together on this issue and maybe share some information to increase people's understanding of these amendments.

    • 7 months ago
  • ClassicalGas
  • CobaltBlueDog
    • +7
      CobaltBlueDog  

    • One point to keep in mind and something to keep an eye on. Although we're not importing wood from Madagascar any longer, China is taking it out by the container load. They then sell items made of that stock to stores in the US.

    • 7 months ago
  • CobaltBlueDog
    • +7
      CobaltBlueDog  

    • CG, thank you for posting this article. Kate has been researching the guitar-making community since 2004 and is in a unique position to comment on this issue.
      Gibson has been raided twice. The charges for the first raid will, most likely stick. They sourced 'grey market' wood from Madagascar, rosewood and ebony, post coup. Reports on the ground are that the current government is plundering the countries national forests.
      The second raid was focused on Indian rosewood. India has done a spectacular job of managing their resource. Indian rosewood and ebony is raised/farmed on plantations. No trees are cut down without a permit from the government. They've set the bar for how sustainable forestry is done. Fish and wildlife is attempting to enforce an Indian law that rosewood over 6 mm in thickness must be completely processed in India before export. India has not enforced this law for over 17 years and freely exports the materials. In the weeks after the August 24th raid the DOJ has declared Indian rosewood fingerboard blacks to be illegal. They put the cart way out in front of the horse.
      The amendments to Lacey were done at the behest of a couple of NW lumber companies to block the import of Canadian soft lumber. It was considered a 'jobs bill'. George Bush, to his credit, vetoed it twice, but it went through with a bipartisan over-ride.
      Members of the guitar-making community will be meeting with members of Congress during the first week of Nov. to explain the unintended consequences of the Lacey Amendments.
      btw, the guitar-making industry uses only 1% of the lumber imported into the USA. The big users are the flooring and furniture industries. But, those people are blissfully unaware that the Lacey Act exists.

    • 7 months ago
  • TanzaniteDiamonds
  • CobaltBlueDog
    • +4
      CobaltBlueDog  
    • TanzaniteDiamonds:

      Hey TD,
      Thanks. This issue weighs on me every day and is the biggest topic of conversation among my friends in the business. We met with people from fish and wildlife back in June, it was sobering to say the least. They were threatening $100-200K fines and prison time for non-compliance. They've made no provision to grandfather in materials that we've purchased legally over the decades. Making our long term investments worthless.
      There's a glimmer of hope that things will be set right. We'll all have to stay tuned.
      btw, good to see you again, it's been a very long time. I'm only posting here because this issue was brought up. I really appreciate your kind reply and hope you're doing well.

    • 7 months ago
  • TanzaniteDiamonds
    • +4
      TanzaniteDiamonds  
    • CobaltBlueDog:

      Hey, Cobalt:

      Thank you. I appreciate your kind reply. Good to see you, too.
      As someone who has a tremendous respect for all musicians, I'm also staying tuned to see what will happen.
      Hope you'll post more often on Current.

    • 7 months ago
  • jackhole
  • CobaltBlueDog
    • +5
      CobaltBlueDog  
    • TanzaniteDiamonds:

      I'll tell you TD, on this topic, I feel compelled to post. On other issues there are people who have a lot more to offer than I ever could. But, this one I know all too well. What has been shocking to many guitarmakers who live on the political left, is that we've been ignored by the left wing. Gibson's CEO was very clever in turning this into a right vs left issue. He managed to garner a lot of press. But, this is not that type of fight, F&W made it clear, they're looking at all of us. Many of us expect more raids to happen soon.
      I know people who have been caught up in this. One friend had his business shut down for nearly a year as a result. So, this topic is close to my heart. I really hope that everyone can pull together on this and send letters to their representatives. CG has posted a letter that can be c&p'd or modified.
      Thanks again.

    • 7 months ago
  • TanzaniteDiamonds
  • HarukoHaruhara
    • +4
      HarukoHaruhara  
    • CobaltBlueDog:

      I find a lot of people don't really know what the issue is about and think it's as simple as "well, it's saving the environment." It's much more complicated than that. I've been surprised at the responses I've gotten from some people.

    • 7 months ago
  • David_H
  • TanzaniteDiamonds
  • ClassicalGas
  • Leen61
  • TanzaniteDiamonds
  • CobaltBlueDog
    • +5
      CobaltBlueDog  
    • Leen61:

      Leen61
      A guitarmaker that I know had his guitars held at the Canadian border. He had shipped them ahead on his way to the Montreal Guitar Festival. He had to hire a 'broker' to get them released. It cost him $750 in broker's fees!
      Also if a builder exports a guitar with even ONE small pearl dot, fish and wildlife charges them/me a $91 permit fee. That's how I spell shakedown.

    • 7 months ago
  • Leen61
  • Leen61
  • ClassicalGas
  • Anonmaly
    • +2
      Anonmaly  

    • I hate this shituation, now I feel all guilty my guitar came at the price of deforestation of endangered wood.... It's really drove a wedge between me and my ebony fret-boarded gf.....

      (actually it's the inability to play on a regular basis with talented people due to financial circumstances beyond my control {of course I might suck and be unwilling to own up to it}... But the whole controversy has been disturbing...)

    • 7 months ago
  • ClassicalGas
  • ClassicalGas
    • +4
      ClassicalGas  
    • Image

    • There is a letter that you could personalize and send to your Representative, should you so choose. I have copied it below...

      Every little bit helps. Thanks for reading.
      ------------------------------------------------

      Dear Representative _______________,

      I am writing to ask for your support for House Bill HR3210, the RELIEF Act.

      I believe you are aware of the difficulties created by the Lacey Act that are impacting woodworkers, antique traders, instrument makers, furniture makers and musicians – among others. I am in favor of regulations which will help to stem the flow of illegally harvested wood, prevent the trade in such species, and protect American manufacturing jobs; but the Lacey Act as it is currently written has some problems which you can help correct. HR3210 amends the Lacey Act by helping to correct some of the unintended consequences of the legislation. This bill currently has the bipartisan support of Marcia Blackburn, Mary Bono Mack and James Cooper – and I hope that you will lend it your support as well.

      For more information about the act and to see comments from NAMM (the music products association) please see this page:

      http://www.namm.org/news/press-releases/namm-supports-new-lacey-relief-act

      This legislation warrants your immediate attention as a struggling industry seeks to regain footing in our troubled economy; an industry that has helped America to define and express itself for over 150 years.

      Thank you for your time,

      ____________________________

    • 7 months ago
  • chew_chew
  • ClassicalGas
  • KB723
  • ClassicalGas
  • KB723
  • KB723
  • ClassicalGas
  • KB723
  • ClassicalGas
  • KB723
  • Anonmaly
    • +1
      Anonmaly  
    • KB723:

      It wasn't I, though I may have noted that c u r r e n t does seem to turn out to be a popularity contest at times... But that's when it's not a propaganda machine, a distraction, or just a place for people with far to much time on their hands....

    • 7 months ago
  • jackhole
  • KB723
  • ClassicalGas
    • +7
      ClassicalGas  

    • "The root of guitar makers’ trouble is the Lacey Act, a law originally enacted in 1900 to prohibit the interstate sale of poached game. In 2008, the act was amended to combat illegal logging around the world. Protections for endangered plants were extended to cover trees logged in violation of foreign law; and importers of wood were required to declare the species and country of harvest for all commercially traded timber, sawed lumber and finished wood products."

    • 7 months ago
  • coolplanet
ClassicalGas
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