What the government wants you to believe is different from what the law seems to say, which is wide open to interpretation, and since Gibson is the only one of several guitar makers that has been raided, though all use similar products, and Gibson just happens to be the only one that is run by a Conservative who actively supports Republicans, it all seems a little odd, except that Obama has an “enemies list” of anyone who is supporting Republicans, and is acting on it. Also odd, is the fact that they were raided 9 months ago, but no charges have been forthcoming. The latest incarnation of the Lacey Act was rammed through Congress by Ron Wyden who attached it as an amendment to a popular farm bill that was sure to pass. The supposed excuse is that though the imported ebony was finished, it wasn’t finished enough. The imported ebony for guitar frets is not illegal under U.S. law, and the governments of India and Madagascar say that it is quite legal under their laws.

It is well-known in DC that the Environmental and Natural Resources division of the Justice Dept. are eco-zealots, according to what I read. People are being prosecuted for criminal offenses that barely measure up to being civil offenses. Do you nit-pick everyone’s choices of words, or do I just rate special attention?

I’m surprised that Senator Wyden would say “The law was intended to prevent illegal logging and protect U.S. jobs that are threatened by illegal logging.” Come again?

The Lacey Act dates back to 1900, in the heyday of America’s first wave of environmental protection. Its origins were in the preservation of hunted wildlife, not to protect jobs in logging. As explained here:

In 1900, illegal commercial hunting threatened many game species in the United States. The original Act was therefore directed at the preservation of game and wild birds, making it a federal crime to poach game in one state with the purpose of selling the bounty in another. The law prohibited the transportation of illegally captured or prohibited animals across state lines, and addressed potential problems of the introduction of non-native species of birds and animals into native ecosystems.

It was the first federal law protecting wildlife, although today it is primarily used to prevent the importation or spread of potentially dangerous non-native species. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any plant in violation of the laws of the United States, a State, an Indian tribe, or any foreign law that protects plants. The Lacey Act was most recently amended as of May 22, 2008, when the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 expanded its protection to a broader range of plants and plant products.

What the crackdown on Gibson sounds like is more an (over?) enforcement problem than a problem of the law per se.

It would be useful if there were a more dispassionate and more international discussion of these issues. Illegal harvesting of tropical timber, and of endangered plants and animals, is still a huge problem in countries with poor governance, like Madagascar, which has a unique forest ecosystem. And although the people running the governments of these countries (often in league with the poachers) may be OK with such poaching, citizens within the affected areas, especially native tribes, sometimes give their lives in attempts to stop it.