Langelle Photography Photo of the Month
Previous International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Tree Biotechnology Conferences have been the target of opposition. Major protests were held against the 2013 IUFRO Tree Biotechnology Conference in Asheville, NC as well as the 2017 Tree Biotechnology Conference in Concepcion, Chile. The 2019 Tree Biotechnology Conference was originally announced for Curitiba, Brazil, where there is a powerful grassroots movement against industrial tree plantations and GE trees. After the 2017 protests in Chile, it was moved to Raleigh, NC [U.S.] The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area is known as ‘The Research Triangle.’
Young person protesting 2013 IUFRO tree biotechnology conference in Asheville, NC in 2013. Other protesters were arrested when they blocked a bus carrying IUFRO delegates on their way to the conference dinner at the Biltmore Estate. The Biltmore Estate, on 8000-acres, was built by George Vanderbilt in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC. In 1892 a trained forester by the name of Gifford Pinchot implemented a management plan for the estate that returned profit to the landowner. Pinchot became the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Photo: Langelle/GJEP