IN MEMORIAM MIKE HAYES
1940-2012
We are saddened to inform you that Mike Hayes passed away today (Dec. 20, 2012) after a brief illness. Mike was 72 years old. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his wife and immediate family at a Plano, Texas, hospital.
Mike loved his Oklahoma Sooners, and spent over a quarter of a century doing what he loved best - selling outdoor furniture. He began his outdoor furniture selling career in the mid 1980s with INSIDE OUT Furniture and then moved to ELEGANT CASUAL Furniture where he managed the store and still was able to be their top salesman. After ELEGANT went out of business, Mike became part of the SUNNYLAND Furniture family in 2002.
For the next 10 years, Mike Hayes was our top sales producer every year. He was instrumental in raising the bar as the consummate professional on our sales floor, and became the envy of the outdoor casual furniture industry.
A memorial service will follow in January. Condolence messages should be forwarded to me at my email so that I can get them to Mike's immediate family.
Mike's family asked that donations be made in his memory and sent to:
Union Gospel Mission 3211 Irving Blvd. Dallas, TX 75247 ( 214 ) 637 - 6117 ugmdallas.org
- David Schweig - President SUNNYLAND Furniture Dallas, Texas |
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Logs being floated down-river, in Peru.
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U.S. Trade Rep Calls for Intensification of
Efforts to Address Illegal Logging in Peru WASHINGTON, D.C.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) responded to a petition submitted by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) requesting the United States government take action under the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to stem the flow of illegally harvested timber into the United States.
In April 2012, EIA released a multi-year investigative report (see Hearth & Home, October 2012) which revealed evidence demonstrating that since 2008 over 20 U.S. companies have imported significant quantities of illegal wood from the Peruvian Amazon in violation of U.S. and international endangered species laws as well as the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement.
"The United States government-led investigation into the allegations of systemic fraud and corruption in the Peruvian forest sector corroborated the findings of EIA's report. The government of Peru also acknowledges the existence of illegal timber harvest through both recent government reports and by taking action to close concessions," said Kate Horner, director of Forest Campaigns at EIA.
"We welcome and appreciate the serious attention paid to EIA's petition by the interagency team charged with evaluating it, as well as the initial steps taken by the government of Peru to improve management of its forest resources. Both the governments of the United States and Peru now acknowledge that significant challenges remain and have identified important steps that need to be taken to address the ongoing serious forest governance challenges."
The U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) contains provisions to prevent illegal timber trade and support forest sector reform, including procedures to audit forest concessions and verify shipments of timber harvested and traded in violation of the law. EIA submitted evidence collected in a multiyear investigation to U.S. authorities in April 2012 and called for an official investigation.
The U.S. led investigation now corroborates these findings and has identified a series of reforms needed to address this persistent governance challenge. The Contraloría General de la República - an independent governmental body in charge of monitoring and auditing the Peruvian government - recently conducted an audit of Peru's forest sector covering a period up to December 2011 and found similar levels of corruption and lack of capacity as presented in EIA's report which covered a period up to 2010.
"We remain concerned that to date no one has been held accountable for these serious violations of Peruvian law and of the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement. Illegal logging has been acknowledged by both governments for years now and yet we are not aware of any prosecutions for these serious violations of both U.S. and Peruvian law," said Julia Urrunaga, Peru program director for EIA.
"We encourage both governments to proactively prosecute illegal timber harvest, which continues to negatively impact forests and livelihoods in Peru and around the world, in order to deter criminal activity. There needs to be real accountability to give meaning to yet another action plan."
The United States determined not to invoke the audit and verification procedures provided in the U.S.-Peru FTA. Instead, the U.S. and Peruvian governments have agreed to a five-point action plan to address continued forest governance failures. While these agreed steps are priority areas for reform, the government of Peru has already committed to address these areas as part of its obligations under the U.S.-Peru FTA, and has consistently failed to take meaningful action.
There have not been any reported prosecutions under Peruvian courts or for violations of the U.S. Lacey Act, which provide civil and criminal penalties for importing illegal timber, in U.S. courts.
"While EIA's report documented illegal trade in endangered species - namely, big leaf mahogany and Spanish cedar - fraud, corruption and weak governance threaten the whole of Peru's forests and the rights of forest dwellers. Without immediate, aggressive action to hold those responsible for continued violations of the laws of Peru, the country's incredible forest resources and the people who live in them will remain in real danger of being wiped out," Julia Urrunaga continued. |
