Although Memphis ranks third in the
United States in violent crime and second in property crime, the federal
government is seemingly more worried about the wood Gibson guitars uses in its
products.
In August, federal authorities conducted
simultaneous raids at Gibson Guitar Corp.’s Tennessee assembly plants in
Nashville and Memphis, seizing guitars, wood, documents and electronic
files.
Agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs Service were
looking for evidence that the company had illegally imported rosewood and ebony
from India. Gibson uses the expensive woods to make the fret boards for its
iconic instruments.
The raid marks the second time in two years that federal agents have paid a
visit to Gibson. In November 2009, agents raided the company’s Nashville
facility, seizing guitars and pallets of ebony that they alleged were illegally
obtained from Madagascar.
That raid spawned a civil forfeiture suit that has since been temporarily
suspended while federal attorneys contemplate filing criminal charges against
Gibson or particular individuals-a process that could subject the company, its
officials, or other individuals to fines or jail time.
Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz denies any wrongdoing. He says Gibson has worked
with organizations such as Greenpeace and the Rainforest Alliance to support
sustainable sources of exotic woods, and the wood seized in the August raid was
certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a third-party organization that
promotes responsible forest management.
Strangely, federal authorities now say they’re unconcerned with how the wood
was harvested, but rather in what form it was imported. The wood in question
includes 1,250 sawn ebony logs from India. The logs were cut to a size that
could be used to make fret boards, but were unfinished. According to a federal
affidavit, Indian law prohibits wood in this form from being exported.
Not surprisingly, Juszkiewicz feels bullied and confused. Having secured an
eco-friendly source of ebony, Gibson is now told that it can import the wood if
it’s been fully finished by Indian workers, but the company can’t import
partially finished wood to be completed by American
workers.
To be clear, governments around the world should take an active role in curbing
international trade in rhino horns, tiger bones and other products made from
endangered species. And we all have a stake in preserving what’s left of the
world’s rapidly dwindling rain forests. (Illegal logging of exotic woods in
Madagascar has been particularly egregious.)
Nevertheless, we wonder if the federal government might not have better things
to do in Memphis than dog a company that has tried to do the right thing
environmentally, kept manufacturing in the United States, and hired 580 people
in the past two years. As of July, the unemployment rate in Memphis stood at
10.9 percent, compared with 9.1 percent for the United States as a whole.
Memphis ranks third in the United States in violent crime and second in
property crime.
With statistics like that, you can be sure that Gibson guitars will be playing
the blues for a long time to come.