Federal regulators gave clearance Wednesday for a large and
controversial field test of genetically engineered trees planned
for seven states stretching from Florida to Texas.
The test is meant to see if the trees, eucalyptuses with a
foreign gene meant to help them withstand cold weather, can
become a new source of wood for pulp and paper, and for biofuels,
in the Southern timber belt. Eucalyptus trees generally cannot
now be grown north of Florida because of occasional freezing
spells.
The Agriculture Department, in an environmental assessment
issued Wednesday, said no environmental problems would be caused
by the field trial, which could involve more than 200,000
genetically modified eucalyptus trees on 28 sites covering about
300 acres.
The permit would be issued to ArborGen, a biotechnology company
owned by three big forest products companies: International
Paper and MeadWestvaco of the United States, and Rubicon of New
Zealand.
The Agriculture Department would have to grant separate approval
for the trees to be grown commercially, clearance that ArborGen
is already seeking.
Although two genetically engineered fruit trees -
virus-resistant papaya and plum trees - are already approved for
commercial planting in the United States, no forest trees have
yet received that clearance in this country.
Genetically engineered trees have the potential to arouse even
more controversy than genetically modified crops like corn or
soybeans, which are made using the same techniques. That is
partly because many people have an emotional attachment to
forests that they do not have to cornfields.
Moreover, because trees live longer than annual crops and
generally can spread their pollen farther, there are concerns
that any unintended environmental effects may spread and persist
longer in a woodland environment than in crop fields.
The Agriculture Department said Wednesday that it had received
comments opposing the field trial from 12,462 people or
organizations, compared with only 45 supporters of the trial.
But a vast majority of the opposing comments were nearly
identical form letters, it said.
Critics say that the eucalyptus trees, even without foreign
genes, may become invasive. They also said the trees were heavy
users of water, could spread fires faster and could harbor a
fungus that sickens people.
"They've been a disaster everywhere they've been planted," said
Anne Petermann, coordinator of a coalition called the Stop GE
Trees Campaign.