Story first appeared in USA TODAY.
Justice Department officials have requested a meeting with Gibson Guitar owners this coming week while federal lawmakers continue to ask why the factories and offices of the prized Guitar Making business guitars were raided Aug. 24.
Gibson Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz said he will meet with federal officials Wednesday here to discuss the raids. Juszkiewicz said he is unsure where the conversation will lead.
In Congress, U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials have agreed to brief lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next two weeks on the issue.
The agency oversaw the Gibson raids, with agents confiscating computer hard drives, and pallets of wood and guitars suspected of being imported illegally in violation of the Lacey Act, which bans the importing of environmentally threatened plants and animals.
Meanwhile, the raid has created uncertainty in the music, furniture and timber industries, which routinely import exotic hardwoods.
In the case of musicians, some say they fear the U.S. government may decide to confiscate instruments made long ago from woods now considered endangered when musicians travel or their gear is shipped abroad.
People are very confused, said a Nashville-based vintage guitar dealer, whose global business entails shipping instruments, some of which are made from woods that their owners might not be able to properly identify as the law now requires.
The raid on Gibson last month was the second in two years on the 117-year-old guitar building company, which was bought by Juszkiewicz and two partners in 1986.
In both instances, federal officials spelled out in search warrants that they suspect Gibson of illegally importing hardwoods barred by law.
In the first raid, in 2009, federal officials indicated they suspected Gibson was illegally importing protected ebony from Madagascar rainforests — an allegation Gibson denies. No charges have been filed in that case. Gibson and federal officials continue to fight in federal court over the fate of those confiscated materials.
In last month's raid, a government affidavit stated that ebony and rosewood imported from India and in Gibson's possession was deliberately mislabeled with incorrect tariff codes twice to hide the fact that the wood was illegal to ship here both under Indian and U.S. law. It's a contention that Gibson has denied.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials and the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment on an ongoing investigation.
Warehouse raided
New details about the August raid have emerged.
In addition to raids at Gibson factories and corporate offices in Nashville and Memphis, agents also seized $200,000 worth of Indian ebony and rosewood belonging to Windsor, Calif.-based Luthier Mercantile International, or LMI.
The wood — about 60,000 pieces cut in the shape of fingerboards used to overlay on guitar necks -- was seized from a warehouse here owned by Red Arrow Delivery Service, which contracted to store the wood that would ultimately be sold to Gibson.
It is the same cut and kind of wood the company routinely sells to other guitar manufacturers.
If Indian rosewood is now suspect and subject to seizure, they said they were not sure how their company could continue to operate.
They are just a little company, and they want to go on doing their business, but a big part of their business is Indian rosewood.
Meanwhile, environmental groups have expressed concern about Gibson's practices.
The Forest Stewardship Council conducts rigorous investigations of the point of origin of harvested wood and the condition of forestry workers before bestowing a certification on the woods that companies import.
Last week, the group said that although Gibson does import FSC certified woods, the Indian rosewood confiscated in last month's raid did not have its more rigorous stamp of approval. Instead, the wood had a less rigorous classification that signaled the point of origin had not been as thoroughly investigated.
There are plans to introduce legislation to amend the Lacey Act that would grandfather in musical instruments made before 2008 to address musicians' concerns about travel. Also, the law should be revised to make it less onerous for businesses to understand and follow.
No one wants endangered species harmed anywhere on the planet, but we have to have a better way of dealing with this issue so innocent Americans aren't hurt in the process.
Meanwhile, Indian timber exporters are lobbying their government to clarify that the woods are legal to export for Guitar Repair.
