Lacey Act Hits Nashville Guitar Manufacturer

Nashville, TN, Nov. 20, 2009--Enforcement of the Lacey Act, which bans the import of illegally harvested wood, has apparently begun.

Federal agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local police seized wood, guitars, computers and boxes of files from Gibson Guitar's Massman Road manufacturing facility.

Sources told the Nashville Post that the guitar manufacturer is being investigated for violating the Lacey Act for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar.

Rosewood is widely used in the construction of guitars and sells for $5,000 per cubic meter, more than double the price of mahogany. The island nation off Africa's east coast is a key producer of the hardwood, the export of which has links to international criminal activity.

Gibson said it "is fully cooperating with agents of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service as it pertains to an issue with harvested wood. Gibson is a chain of custody certified buyer who purchases wood from legal suppliers who are to follow all standards. Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz sits on the board of the Rainforest Alliance and takes the issue of certification very seriously. The company will continue to cooperate fully and assist our federal government with all inquiries and information."

The newspaper's sources said that Gibson was involved in a scheme that shipped the wood from Madagascar to Germany and then to the United States.