Posted on 10/13/2007 9:28:06 AM PDT by LdSentinal
THE HAGUE Greenpeace activists on Saturday blockaded a cargo ship they claimed was carrying newsprint made from trees felled in Canadian old growth forests.
The environmentalists said they were preventing the 560-foot ship Finnwood from unloading its paper cargo at Terneuzen port, 130 miles south of Amsterdam, and were daubing on its side a slogan calling for newspapers not to use paper made from old growth forests.
Hilde Stroot, campaign leader for Greenpeace Netherlands, said more than 1.7 million acres of Canadian forest home to threatened species such as the lynx, wolf and caribou are cleared each year.
"Huge areas of forest are being destroyed for newspapers, books and toilet tissue," Stroot said.
Greenpeace said the paper on board the ship was from Canadian forest products company Abitibi-Consolidated LLC and is used by all of the Netherlands' major newspaper publishers.
Abitibi did not immediately return an after hours call to its office in Montreal. The company's Web site said that its newsprint is made of up to 100 percent recycled paper, but Greenpeace claimed samples they have had tested contained up to 90 percent new wood fibers.
It would be more fitting if that Prize was re-named to: NOBEL TERRORIST PRIZE!!!
Wood-wise, old growth is denser and stronger. The rings are closer together and it tends to be more visually pleasing, IMHO.
New growth is usually a specially bred tree that grows quickly, but is not as “good” of a wood. You can really tell the difference when you look at the rings.
On that note... Old growth lumber is very desirable and commands a higher price. I’d think that paper and pulp would only be made with scraps that would otherwise be trashed or burned.
Here in Oregon the paper mills have started farming trees just for pulp. It’s quite a sight.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.