I agree, So, all "finished" wood is OK, but "lumber" is not OK??  Or just rough cut stuffs?  Seems strange to me. A tree cut down is still dead!  How it gets here shouldn't be the problem.  I'm not a fan of stripping the rain-forest trees, but this seems silly stuff to cost us more in the long run. I'll refrain from getting  some hammers with Bubinga mouldings! LOL. How much do we spend on such crap? Yeah, the govt can use what little it has to pay more attention to important stuffs, and I hope so.  Not going there! :>)Sorry, just a rant!  Maple rules! PW <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td>From: <td>Ed Foote <a440a@aol.com> <tr valign=top> <td>To: <td>pianotech@ptg.org <tr valign=top> <td>Date: <td>08/27/2011 03:09 PM <tr valign=top> <td>Subject: <td>Re: [pianotech] Feds confiscating musical instrument materials</table> <hr noshade> <<Recently the Gibson Guitar Company was raided by federal agents asserting that the company has been using illegally obtained banned lumber from protected forests. >> Greetings,    According to our Nashville paper, the problem with the wood Gibson had was that India's laws require the wood to be finished before leaving the country, ie, whatever manufacturing is to be done with the wood has to be done in India.  So, the Feds were confiscating material that India says should not have been exported in the condition it was in.      I think this is an idiotic  setting of priorities.  There are far more important things we should be spending enforcement dollars on.   Regards, Ed Foote RPT