In 1993 and 1994, representatives of the Trillium Corp. of Bellingham, Washington trekked to the island of Tierra del Fuego and assembled a vast, 840,000-acre (340,000-hectare) landholding that straddles the Argentine-Chilean border. The timber company was preparing a project to log the island’s vast forests of old-growth lenga (Nothofagus pumilio), a southern beech variety equivalent in hardness to American cherry, and export the wood worldwide in the form of lumber and furniture-parts. To allay green concerns, Trillium promised to build a model of environmentally responsible timber management. It has since committed to shelterwood cutting and retention zones in harvest areas, and designated extensive biological reserves and buffer zones on the Chilean portion of its property. It also has pledged to... [Log in to read more]