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43 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 111 (2016)
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Prosecute Corruption and End Transnational Illegal Logging

handle is hein.journals/bcenv43 and id is 122 raw text is: THE FOREIGN CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT: PROSECUTE CORRUPTION AND END TRANSNATIONAL ILLEGAL LOGGING SARAH M. GORDON* Abstract: Transnational illegal logging, especially logging of protected spe- cies within protected areas, causes many irreparable harms, including decreas- ing biodiversity, increasing carbon emissions, deforestation, and economic and social harms to the communities where the illegal logging occurs. The United States is one of the world's largest consumers of wood products and thus drives the illegal logging industry far beyond our borders. Illegal logging is facilitated by corruption and bribery within many contexts, including bribes from those engaged in illegal logging to police, officials, regulators, and cus- toms and export officials who are entrusted with the task of preventing illegal logging. No existing methods have succeeded in combating the flow of ille- gally harvested timber into the United States timber market. This Note sug- gests that the recently amended Lacey Act, which is intended to be used in il- legal logging prosecutions, is not suited for this purpose, as its terms have been interpreted and defined through years of litigation in the wildlife traffick- ing context. This Note argues that the Department of Justice should begin us- ing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's (FCPA) anti-bribery provisions as an alternative method to prosecute those engaged in illegal logging. The ex- pansively drafted FCPA is the perfect tool, as it can be applied to a wide range of actors and conduct that facilitates illegal logging. INTRODUCTION A bigleaf mahogany tree can live for 200 years or more, growing more than 150 feet tall and six feet wide.' Mahogany trees produce dense, durable wood with reddish hues, highly valued as timber.2 The timber from a single tree can be worth more than $100,000 once constructed into luxury furni- ture and other wood products.3 Mahogany is a slow-growth species, mean- ing that it is very slow to regenerate after depletion from logging.4 These * Managing Editor, BOSTON COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS LAW REVIEW, 2015-2016. 1 Ani Youatt & Thomas Cmar, The Fight for Red Gold: Ending Illegal Mahogany Trade from Peru, 23 NAT. RESOURCES & ENV'T 19, 19 (2009). 2id 3Id. 4id. 111

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