I have chosen this article for two reasons: one, I do not agree with excessive deforestation and illegal deforestation because two, it leads to the endangerment of animals. Animals are extremely important to me, and in Russia, the Amur Tigers’ lives are being threatened by illegal deforestation. Logging in an important aspect to the Russian economy; Putin considers the vast amount of forest “the powerful green lungs of the planet”. The problem is that there are companies that are cutting the wrong type of tree, too many trees, and cutting trees in the wrong area. I am worried about the Amur Tigers (Siberian Tigers) because they are loosing their habitat and their food supply. The excessive destruction of the forest takes away the nuts that the Amur Tigers’ prey feeds on. The worst part of this story that has drawn me in is that United States companies are using the wood. The furniture and flooring that we put in our houses is directly impacting the lives of the Tigers. These are important animals to Russia, as is the logging business, but the logging needs to be better controlled.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/10/22/239665474/in-russias-vast-far-east-timber-theives-thrive