August 13, 2007

ALERT! Stop Ocean City, New Jersey from Using Ancient Rainforest Timbers for Boardwalk Decking

TAKE ACTION! Ocean City, New Jersey is a seaside resort that has a 2.5 mile wooden boardwalk fronting the Atlantic Ocean... Citizens are campaigning to stop the city from using FSC certified ipê timbers for its current one block boardwalk re-construction project and for any future re-decking projects... In 1996, when Ocean City announced a plan to re-deck the entire boardwalk with ipê, a grassroots group formed to oppose the use of rainforest wood. After 22 months of successful campaigning the City Council adopted a Resolution in May 1997 which stated that they "...will no longer purchase tropical rain forest hardwood for the boardwalk in Ocean City"... Fast forward ten years to January 2007 and the issue of using ipê industrially harvested from ancient rainforests rears its ugly head again. But this time, the city presents ipê as an environmentally responsible choice as long as it is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. While the evidence is mounting worldwide regarding major problems with the FSC's certification of ancient forest logging as "responsible" while implying environmental sustainability, the city uses the endorsement that major environmental organizations give to FSC certified products as justification for using ipê... Citizens have repeatedly requested a public forum to discuss the failures of FSC certification and the insufficiencies of the city’s materials analysis, but their requests have been ignored... Based upon false and misleading information from major environmental groups, the City of Ocean City is to purchase ancient rainforest wood in the name of environmental responsibility. In order to protect ancient forests, the people who live there, and global climate; this purchase must be stopped and an important precedent set that industrial scaled ancient forest logging must end forever. TAKE ACTION!
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Rainforest Conservation Issues
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Article Link
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http://www.rainforestportal.org/







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Aug 16, 2007 11:56 pm US/Eastern
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Boardwalk Battle Raging In Ocean City
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(CBS 3) OCEAN CITY, N.J. There is a battle raging over the boardwalk in Ocean City and it came to a head on Thursday night with protestors joining vacationers on the boards.
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The choice to rehab the boardwalk with wood from the rain forest has generated a great deal of controversy.
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The wood Ipe is only used on a few blocks of the Ocean City boardwalk but that is about to change.
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Ipe has held up well and has withstood the large crowds that walk on the boardwalk each summer.
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And it is because of that, city council voted to use the wood again on 9th Street where repairs are needed.
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However, the decision to use the wood has some people up in arms.
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"One block equals approximately 2,000 acres of deforestation and I think that’s awful," protestor Rhonda Vanwingerden said.
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The protestors voiced their opinion and delivered their message to city council Thursday evening."I urged you to do the responsible thing, to overturn your previous decision to use Ipe wood on the Ocean City boardwalk," one protestor voiced to council.
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The protestors who are against the use of Ipe said the alternative of classic lumber is 40 percent cheaper and just as reliable.
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Late Thursday night, city council voted 4-3 to recommend that the mayor's office rescind the purchase of Ipe.
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Article link