Council charges yew bark wasted
By J.r ay Bw.'tge.v:■>
Thousands of pounds of
taxol-containing vow hark have
been wasted as a result of mis
management by the pharma
couth al company that controls
it. according to the Oregon Nat
ural Resources Council,
ONKC Coordinator Wendell
Wood charged I!risto!-Mevers
Squibb in an Oct. 10 press re
lease with "a complacent man
agement altitude," resulting in
irresponsible cut-and -hum
methods, as well us lax security
procedures that cause wide
spread yew hark thievery
Taxol, a drug derived from
vew bark, has shown to be a
. (ell inhibitor that has
proved elft-i live against ovarian
cancer, anti may be valuable In
righting lung i uneer, breast can
cer and rectal cam er
As taxol is currently running
at S22,(KK) an ounce, yew bark
proves to be a profitable ven
ture for poachers
The ONKC charged the Boul
der. Colo -based Mauser North
west, which is Bristol Meyers
Squibb's only authorized bark
collecting agent, has permitted
virtually "unregulated yew tree
cutting."
Wood said tbds has resulted
in the loss of thousands of yew
trees in hundreds of timber
sales currently under contract
ONKC Is concerned about
clearcut logging and burning
practices, which will kill "liv
ing stumps" th.it might other
wise regenerate the Pacific yew
ONKC claimed they have
documented proof in which
yew bark has been high graded,
which means that only the big
gest and oldest trees ant Used,
resulting in the waste of small
er limbs and needles.
Wood theorized bark collec
tors who. he said, are paid In
the pound, rather than by the
hour, have no incentive to re
cover the limbslock and nee
dles
ibis means workers may
leave the smaller tw.gs in older
to speed up Work, going oil to
larger trees in the attempt to
produce more poundage, Woo i
said
Jim Mayo, timber planner for
the Wdlamet'e National Purest
Service, agreed yew has been
w astrd How ever. ho sard the
waste was understand.il .V
In th« past, thou* was no
recognized value for the s; e
cios A lot of it vs as wasted be
cause vve didn't know its val
uc." Ma'.vo said, adding the l or
i st Service is now being more
c areful to recover the smaller
pieces
ONKC also believes eimpl.i
l ent management attitudes has
resulted in rampant thievery of
vew lark, with agencies not
providing adequate monitoring
of vevv tr.msai t lolls that a'...ares
the hark originated from Maas, r
'. rthw est
Next year, -the Ft-res! Servi. e
is issuing sequent, el! v in;::v
hered permits, m ordi : !o !: a e
V evv hark bar k to its ; lab: . for
igm. ' _
lust two weeks ago, live 1 a
gene men vyte ohivu .i of
:s t all rig vevv hark lame-. Harri
son Oviatt. lit); Danny Joseph
i’owvil, Id. Stephen Ur ; k. in.
Ronnie V. hael Jones, il l an. I
Douglas Randolph D.in:i Is.
shipped two tons oi w el ha; k :
the Sw eet Home Ranger , n .. ;
near (lottage drove one of
two main pros essrng sites of
V evv bar k i tie men . .. .1 l.e e
terms of It) years in p:... n an 1
ShOO.ODO in fines
At this time of the year,
Mayo said, thievery is less i one
mon because the yew Is not
peeling Beginning in April, sup
m the tree will start to run,
causing the tree to perl and
m.iking bark theft easier It is
also easier to sell, her ause taxol
is made from dry hark, and wet
hark mu s t he d ried a n d
chipped before lining sold
Jim Simonson. Fores! Yew
Coordinator, defended the For
est Service, saying they are do
ing all they r an t v hav g law
agencies patrol the Nation.il
l ores! to prevent yew poai ll
ing.
Mayo suggested the war be
ing vvaged between the I t o st
Serve e ami the Orrg ai Natural
Resources Council may go on
fur a long time her an a- lavol,
one of the most effective drugs
um d to fight cancer m vv r-n the
market, is not a synthetic Be
cause of the complexity of Us
i hrmu al make-up, a synthetli
may he a lung time in turning,
t n aiing a greater need tor the
Pacific vevv, he said.
Government
inventories
yew trees
By Janay Blairejewski
Errwr.ak i Contributor
Tho U S F'orest service
began conducting an in
ventory Ibis fall of the
number of yaw trees
growing in mi liana I for
ests to dotorml.no how
much of it tain bo harvest
oti without and angering
the species
1 he inventory, which
is part ul a cooperative
agreement between the
Forest Service anti the
National Cantor institute,
is being funded bv the
pharmaceutical company
Bristol Meyer Squibb ami
will cover 1.7 million
acres of the Willamette
National Forest
The Pacific yew has re
cuntly heen the suhjoi ! of
controversy because its
bark is the source of the
drug taxol, which is used
in lighting various forms
of concur
The inventory will esti
mate the abundance of
the yew and record asso
ciated vegetation and situ
characteristics to help do
tormina conditions noces
sury for yaw to grow.
jmi Mayo, timber plan
ner for the Willamette Na
tional Forest, said the re
searchers already have
sortie knowledge us to
what kind of environment
the yew requires to grow
Kosuurchors will pro
pure 400-500 sample
plots They will measure
off a five acre square arid
make live circular plots
Axiv yew within the !!
fuel plots will be r r.., n! i
and measured by be :,t
and width
Data will be unaly/. 1
Ibis winter and the pro
gram will conclude in
August.
POLICE BEAT
Tho following iiu uiriils were n-fiortml to
the O flier of Public Safely from Oi l. JO to
Nov ti.
• Two transients were reported trespass
ing near tho University Inn on Saturday
Nov. 2. Jon Ament, 31. and Steven Miller,
33, were reportedly soon taking chairs from
a dumpster near the Ul. The officer gave
Miller a warning Ament was cited for tres
passing ufter die officer discovered he had a
legal letter of trespass, which herred him
from campus. Tho letter of trespass w as giv
en to Ament by an Ol'S officer on Sept. 21
when Ament was found with an open con
tainer of beer at 13th and Kincaid St
• A Westmoreland Family Housing resi
dent reported a fracture in his window Sun
day Nov. 3 According to a police report.
John (ireydanus, 30, of It,40 Arthur St.,
heard a track and discovered a fracture in
his living room window The small hole
was believed by an OPS officer at the scene
to have been caused by a pellet gun, wrist
ri« ket or HU gun There are no suspects
The damage is estimated at $150.
• iiie top of a lamp post at lii::i Avenue
and Kincaid Street was broken off on Mon
day Nov. 4 An officer found jiiet.es of a ve
hicle taillight on the scene but there were
no witnesses Tho damage is estimated at
$t>00.
• The re were two hikes stn.en Utd Hone
recovered
MEETINGS
Student Campaign for Disarmament will inn I
Uxlay from 3 Id 5 p rn m EMU Century Room E
flail 340-4248 fur morn information
Students fur Clreative Anai hruni.Mii will uni t
tonight at 7 in Again ifuilding No 1 flail
484 *1198 for morn information.
Alpha I’hi Omega will mnnt tonight at 8:30 in
EMU fledar Room (1. call 340-9911 for morn infor
mation.
OSPIRG, 340-4357.
• Consumer Hotline meeting today at •! 30 pm.
in EMU flnntury Room It
• (lorn Planning mnntmg tonight .it > in EM
Century Room B
MISCEI \N
"Did God Change Between the Old and New
Testaments?” is title i.t a i . ;n .
M ill sponsored Ev Knslor.it. m Cain; is Mm
today at 12 it) p in in EMU Century X .ll (
3 13-4914 lor tnoii: ndoniiati n.
An evening of poetry with Ted Kooser ..
place tonight at 7 in the Northwest Christian t .
lege Burke-Grifflth Banquet Room ■ ■ r ! . ' .
Avenue and Kincaid Struct). A book signing t
(option will follow his reading.
5
5th STRICT ^
Cvioeo PUBLIC MARKET
GAMES
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THE FAR SIDE
By GARY LARSON
Sure I ne place you re looxin ior is siraigm over inem
hills — course that s as the crow (lies not as the
chicken walks Ha ha ha ha