According to Nashville Post’s J.R. Lind, federal and local authorites have raided Gibson Guitars for illegally importing protected wood.

Sources say the Nashville-based guitar manufacturer is being investigated for violating the Lacey Act, a key piece of environmental law, for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar.

Rosewood is widely used in the construction of guitars and sells for $5,000 per cubic meter, more than double the price of mahogany. The island nation off Africa’s east coast is a key producer of the hardwood, the export of which has links to international criminal activity.

Metro Police told WKRN that the raid was federal, and Metro was not involved. Lind tells NIT on Twitter that he personally saw a Metro officer on the scene.

A Gibson Guitar spokesperson tells WKRN that the Nashville Post story is incorrect but would not say anything else. We are waiting for a statement from Gibson.

UPDATE 3:50pm: Here’s the statement from Gibson

Nashville, TN…November 17, 2009 — Today Gibson Guitar is fully cooperating with agents of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service as it pertains to an issue with harvested wood. Gibson is a chain of custody certified buyer who  purchases wood from legal suppliers who are to follow all standards. Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO sits on the board of the Rainforest Alliance and takes the issue of certification very seriously. The company will continue to cooperate fully and assist our federal government with all inquiries and information.

UPDATE 4:05pm: Our reporters on the scene confirm with the newsroom the federal agents are United States Fish & Wildlife agents.

Tags: Gibson Guitar, imported, Lacey Act, rosewood

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Business, Environment, Music, Nashville, Public Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.