Nation IN BRIEF : THE WEST : Policy Seeks to Halt Waste of Yew Trees

A new policy to prevent the waste of Pacific yew trees, which contain the promising anti-cancer drug taxol, was announced by the U.S. Forest Service. All commercial sales of Pacific yew trees in national forests will be limited to the purpose of taxol production. Banned will be the sale of the wood for items such as fence posts and lumber. The only exception is small quantities of wood to be used in making bows, arrows and other traditional wood-carved products. Some researchers believe taxol from the trees may be the most promising anti-cancer drug of the past decade.