Boise Cascade cancels Cascada Chile project

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Boise Cascade recently disclosed that it is canceling its controversial Cascada Chile project in southern Chile. Slated to be the world's largest chip mill and Oriented Strand Board (OSB) facility, the Cascada Chile project was expected to double the rate of logging in southern Chile's temperate rainforests.

The pudu deer, only 18 inches tall, is one of the many animals found only in Chile's temperate rainforests. Photo: Defensores del Bosque

Intense local and international pressure from concerned citizens, businesses, and environmental groups, combined with legal action in Chile, had successfully delayed the project for years. Chilean organizations Geo Austral, Defensores del Bosque Chileno, and Renace were instrumental in the victory. Many U.S. groups also actively opposed the controversial project.

Southern Chile holds nearly one-third of the remaining temperate rainforests on Earth. These forests are home to many unique forms of plant and animal life, including the world's smallest deer, the pudu, which stands only fifteen inches high; the alerce tree, which lives up to 4,000 years; and the araucaria, an "archetypal" tree whose ancestors date back 200 million years. Ninety percent of the species found in Chile's native forests are found only in Chile.

Boise Cascade remains one of the top importers of old growth wood from Chile. The Central Bank of Chile has found that Chile's unprotected native forests will be completely gone in twenty years if current forest practices remain unchanged.

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