Number: 1994-05
WHEREAS, 87% to 95% of Oregon’s ancient forests have already been destroyed and at the current rate of destruction, the remainder will be destroyed in ten years; and
WHEREAS, Oregon and the balance of the U.S. have and will continue to have a continuing need for pulp and paper products; and
WHEREAS, public land agencies are reducing the amount of forested land deemed to be suitable for cutting; and
WHEREAS, fast growing tree species can not meet the need for pulp and paper products; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report FO:PAP/79/7 (March 1979) states the “main non-wood fibers used or considered for pulping and papermaking are reviewed under three main headings: agriculture residues from sugar; cereal or fiber crops; grasses and weeds; and bast and hemp plant fibers”; and
WHEREAS, paper products of all grades can be made from annual crops with a high cellulose content such as hemp, kenaf and sugar cane and which produce three to five times more than fast growing U.S. tree varieties (The Biomass Users Network Newsletter, May/June 1990); and
WHEREAS, dioxin is produced as a by-product of chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper and dioxin is carcinogenic at minute concentrations; and
WHEREAS, many alternative fibers can be bleached with hydrogen peroxide, a relatively benign substance; and
WHEREAS, cellulose is the plant product that is crucial to the production of pulp and paper and the hemp plant is 77% cellulose and wood is 60% cellulose (Encyclopedia of Textiles, 3rd edition, by editors of American Fabrics and Fashions Magazines); and
WHEREAS, paper made from wood products has a life expectancy of 25 to 80 years due to its acid content but paper made from fibers without acid lasts for hundreds of years and acid-free paper made from hemp is being investigated for archival use by many businesses (including Bank of America); and
WHEREAS, the student environmental law society at the University of Oregon School of Law (Land, Air and Water) prints its journals on hemp paper and David Brower’s Earth Island Journal is in the process of switching to hemp paper; and
WHEREAS, paper made from some alternative fibers can be recycled seven times versus only three times for paper made from wood; and
WHEREAS, the United Kingdom legalized the cultivation of hemp for industrial purposes including paper product manufacture; and
WHEREAS, China uses alternative fibers including hemp for paper products;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 4-6, 1994 in Austin, Texas, supports the use of alternative (non-wood) fibers in the making of paper products wherever possible; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation supports diverse uses of alternative fiber paper, such as acid-free paper for archives; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation supports legal industrial cultivation of alternative fibers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation calls on state governments to use paper products made from alternative (non-wood) fibers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Wildlife Federation calls for all U.S. government purchases of paper products to include 10% alternative fiber content by fiscal year 1996.