Gibson Guitar case spurs jobs, laws debate

When federal agents seized rare ebony and rosewood from Gibson Guitars, it sparked a firestorm over illegal logging, the content of musical instruments, and preserving American jobs.

Last month's raid on Gibson's Tennessee factories so angered chief executive Henry Juszkiewicz that he went to Washington. His cause was taken up by House Speaker John Boehner, who said the company was being unfairly singled out and was a symbol of government over-regulation hurting an industry that provides good jobs.

Juszkiewicz, who sat in Boehner's box in Congress while President Barack Obama offered up his jobs proposal earlier this month, said he wants the matter cleared up.

The probe has cost Gibson, which has made guitars for Elvis Presley and B.B. King, millions of dollars, led it to scrounge for wood used to make guitar fingerboards, and may force it to halt production on some models, he said. "There's a lot of innuendo . . . that we are being sneaky and surreptitious," Juszkiewicz said.

In court documents, the Fish and Wildlife Service said Gibson is suspected of obtaining illegally logged ebony and rosewood from Madagascar and unfinished wood from India that violate 2008 amendments to the century-old Lacey Act, which prohibits trade in endangered animals and plants.

The government said internal Gibson emails show the company was aware of the risks of obtaining illegal wood and may have cut corners with its suppliers. Gibson has not been formally charged, and the company has filed court papers seeking the return of wood seized.

Ebony and rosewood, important for higher-quality guitars, are increasingly rare and not grown in the United States but are available from parts of Africa and South America.

The amendment to the Lacey Act governing plant material was backed by the Republican administration of George W. Bush to help the beleaguered U.S. logging industry.