Chip Plant Threatens Chilean Rainforest

Boise Cascade, the U.S. wood product giant, has teamed up with a local Chilean partner to open a new operation in Chile. The companies plan to spend $180 million dollars to build a port and a processing plant in the village of Ilque (eel-kay). The Chilean national government is boosting the project as good for economic growth, but many people in Ilque worry about the loss of their traditional way of life and damage to the ecosystem. Lake Sagaris sent us this report from the nearby town of Puerto Montt.