It's probably my fault; cocobolo is one of my favorite woods to carve (it's horribly allergenic if worked with dust-generating machines --an absolute dream to use with chisels, rasps, and scrapers since the tight, oily grain cuts very predictably). Heck, the stock I'm making for my Remington 700 is about half cocobolo (3lbs, at least
). As with all banics, I'm sure there's a mad rush to claim every last parcel of the stuff going on (I'll go see if I can still find some tomorrow, in fact
)
I also have my doubts this will change things all that much for us in the US. Here in the States, the cocobolo has been coming in from plantations for years (at least as far my research has been able to indicate). "Wild" cocobolo has been scarce for a long time, so the farms sprung up to meet the demand ("sprung" is probably too fast a descriptor for these trees
) for smaller-diameter needs like grips and inlay wood. The big logs come from old trees, and that's where the price increases will be seen. Avoid solid cocobolo coffee tables (and gun stocks
). Even then, current stocks of board and curing timber will be around for years (they take years to dry) at increasing prices
Also interesting will be whether than try to ban
all cocobolo, since it's a very widespread species in south America. The northern strain in Mexico is much more orange, and less dense than we think of, while the stuff right at the equator is jet black, and extremely dense. I find it hard to believe the tree is under equal threat in all the different countries its found, and therefore deserving of embargo (which won't really accomplish anything besides allowing us to feel morally superior while the timber outfits hook up with China)
PS-IIRC, there was some evidence of political motivations behind the Gibson raid, as a very big to-do was made over what was really a clerical error, that ended up sullying Gibson's good name (seeing how most people think they used illegally harvested timber to this day)
TCB