THIS JUST IN...

Interesting follow up from the BlueLinx press conference today. On the call were reporters with Paperloop.com, American Banker and the Associated Press .

Also on the call was a guy named Ben Stevens--claiming to be a freelance reporter for CNN. Suspiciously, Mr. Stevens hung up part way through the call--just before one Mark Palmer, Director of Marketing at the North American Wholesale Lumber Association hopped on.

Now, a little digging will tell you that Ben Stevens actually works for NAWLA not CNN. So, the top PR hack for NAWLA--one of the most powerfull timber industry lobbies in the world--lied. Drop Ben an email just to say hello at bstephens@lumber.org or contact him at

North American Wholesale Lumber Association
3601 Algonquin Road, Suite 400
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
Telephone (847) 870-7470 x34
Facsimile (847) 870-0201

Not So Fast
Those following developments on the coast of British Columbia should check out an interesting take on the proposed sale of Weyerhaeuser's timberlands to Brascan from Dogwood Will Horter at Dogwood Initiative. Among other things, Horter speculates that legal challenges being mounted by B.C. First Nations may prevent the deal.

Back in the Saddle

After a long hiatus, I'm back in the Blogging saddle--hereby vowing to continue with breaking news and dug-dirt from the dark corners of corporate America... So without further ado:

Investigation Finds “IMD” In Indonesia
JP Morgan Chase and BlueLinx linked to illegal logging of endangered forests and resulting humanitarian crisis.

- DirtyMoney.org publishes “investment of mass destruction” case study linking JP Morgan Chase and BlueLinx to illegal timber trafficking.

- Conservation community calls on megabank and timber trader to comply with voluntary embargo of Indonesian wood.

- Illegal loggers called “terrorists” by Indonesian government as unlawful clear-cuts cause humanitarian crisis.

- Yale study calls for “immediate transnational management.”


San Francisco – Investigations by Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network have confirmed that JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) client BlueLinx (NYSE: BXC), America’s largest building products distributor, is smuggling legally disputed, undocumented timber out of Indonesia’s critically endangered rainforests and flooding the U.S. marketplace with artificially cheap lauan plywood. The conservation community is calling on JP Morgan Chase and BlueLinx to immediately comply with a voluntary corporate embargo of Indonesian forest products already in place at Centex Corporation (NYSE: CTX), International Paper (NYSE: IP) and Lanoga Corporation.

Details of the investigation will be released in a telephone press conference.

PRESS CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS
Professor Lisa Curran, Ph.D., director, Tropical Resources Institute, Yale University
Pamela Wellner, senior campaigner, Greenpeace
Allan Thornton, president, Environmental Investigation Agency
Brant Olson, director, Old Growth Campaign, Rainforest Action Network
Ilyse Hogue, director, Global Finance Campaign, Rainforest Action Network

WHAT
Telephone press conference releasing research linking JP Morgan Chase investment and BlueLinx initial public offering to illegal logging and resulting humanitarian crisis in Indonesia

WHEN
11:00 a.m. (Pacific) / 2:00 p.m. (Eastern)
Thursday, February 24, 2005


The complete case study and news release will be made available on DirtyMoney.org at 9:00 a.m on Thursday, February 24, two hours before the press conference.