Wildwood is latest community to use trees cut from rainforest

New Jersey's most popular beach town is about to make a decision that has been unpopular with environmentalists around the world -- using wood cut from the Amazon rainforests to repair a section of its boardwalk. Wildwood, voted the state's best beach last summer by vacationers and others, will become the latest of several New Jersey communities opting to use the more durable rainforest wood to build or fix boardwalks. Environmental groups contend the world's tropical rainforests are being wiped out by logging to satisfy demand for this kind of wood.

Mayor Ernest Troiano Jr. said Wildwood reluctantly turned to Brazilian ipe wood only after a shipment of domestically grown black locust wood arrived in unusable condition. "I'm not advocating tearing down the Brazilian rainforests," he said. "We wanted to use black locust, to do the right thing and the environmentally responsible thing. But the wood we ordered is not the wood that was delivered.

Unless a last-minute alternative can be found, Wildwood will start using ipe within the next few weeks to replace aging planks in front of the skee-ball arcades, body-piercing stands and fortune teller booths that line its boardwalk. "We have the boardwalk torn open and it needs to be fixed and ready to go by Easter," Troiano said. "If we don't get that hole closed up, it will be a nightmare for our merchants."

The move comes a year after Ocean City, a fellow Cape May County beach town, was criticized by environmentalists for using Brazilian ipe to replace part of its own boardwalk. Thousands of protest e-mails from as far away as Australia, the Philippines, South Africa and New Zealand flooded the mayor's computer.

Ipe (pronounced "EE'-pay") is a flowering tree that towers over others in the forest canopy. It can grow to 100 feet. It is Brazil's largest timber export, 50 percent of which is sold to the United States. The wood looks good, lasts for decades and can support the weight of a police car or fire engine. It also can withstand moisture and the corrosive effects of salt better than other species of wood, making it popular for use in boardwalks.

But environmentalists have been trying for years to promote the use of abundant, domestically grown species like black locust. Wildwood agreed to use black locust for its boardwalk project; a decision that was hailed by Tim Keating, executive director of Rainforest Relief, a New York volunteer group. However, a shipment of black locust from a New York supplier showed up with pieces of bark in it, large knots and some cracks.

Environmental groups then suggested Wildwood consider using lumber made from recycled plastic. Belmar and Spring Lake are among Shore towns using it. But Troiano said the current project has to be done with the same type of wood as ipe or black locust. He also raised aesthetic questions about plastic lumber. "When people go to a boardwalk, they want to walk on a boardwalk; they don't want a plastic walk," Troiano said. "It's a traditionalist thing. They want wood under their feet." Keating said he is trying to identify other suppliers of black locust that could be used for the rest of Wildwood's boardwalk project, even if the current three-block section is done with ipe.

Let ‘em use whatever it takes to keep that marvelous boardwalk and its amusement piers up and running - it provides more people with more joy, good times and camaraderie than the Amazon rain forest ever will - had lots of fun over the years visiting there for the rides, greasy food and “games of chance” - even won a parakeet once - a mean little critter - “Watch the car - watch the TRAM car please”.......

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