Environmental groups and their funders

Environmental charities depend on large annual donations from various sources to exist. The audited financials for one group in the Kootenays, Wildsight, suggests it relies heavily on US foundations. Wildsight, Sierra Club, Canadian Parks and Wilderness (CPAWS), all registered charities, are media savvy groups that continually challenge all levels of government to change. They often make statements backed up by their “experts” or “science”, hardly ever revealing their source of information. Take one fact and stretch it as far as the media will allow until they are challenged where they become eerily silent. The US foundations listed below are spending millions in BC for campaigns that range from Atlin in the northwest  to the Flathead valley in the Southeast. Are they driven by other agendas such as the ones Vivian Krause has identified? Are there larger issues at play that groups like Wildsight have become pawns to? Is Wildsight  facing an identity crunch due in part to their general acceptance of “change or else” preaching’s of David Suzuki and Al Gore?

One has to wonder who Wildsight represents. From 2001-2011 Wildsight revenue totals of 6.2 million dollars with a membership that fluctuates between 200 and 500. From 2004-2012 CPAWS revenue topped 38 million. These are just two of the 100’s of groups being funded. It’s time for US and Canadian funders to Thinktwice about funding groups that are built on misinformation and political interference. David Suzuki recently commented on his website “Environmentalism has failed” but it certainly isn’t because of a lack of money.

The figures below are from the audited financials that Wildsight recently posted to their website. This includes the Regional Wildsight audited financials from 2001-2011 not the other 5 branch offices that have to fund themselves from other sources. The monies that Regional Wildsight brings in pales in comparison with Suzuki Foundation or the Sierra Club of Canada. Environmentalism is big business in BC; maybe the provincial government should replace the carbon tax with a  green tax on the environmentalists. They seem to always want action from the government; its only fair they pay their way.  

Paul Visentin

Member of ThinkTwice group

Government and Taxpayer Grants 2001-2011	$1,438,959
BC Gaming Commission	$ 127,396
City of Fernie	$ 6,010
Columbia Shuswap Regional District	$ 14,350
District of Invermere	$ 9,957
Government of Canada	$ 176,786
Province of British Columbia	$ 32,131
Regional District of Central Kootenay	$ 24,479
Regional District of East Kootenay	$ 37,195
BC Hydro	$ 26,000
Columbia Basin Trust	$ 975,655
Columbia Power Corp	$ 8,000
Village of Radium Hot Springs	$ 1,000
US Grants 2001-2011	$3259391
444's Foundation	$ 231,635
The Brainerd Foundation	$ 321,552
The Bullitt Foundation	$ 247,621
Confluence Fund	$ 15,616
Conservation Alliance	$ 16,103
Conservation Northwest	$ 3,039
Endswell Foundation	$ 39,767
Global Nature Fund	$ 79,768
Henry P Kendall Foundation	$ 201,126
LaSalle Adams Fund	$ 189,923
National Parks Conservation Assoc	$ 1,010
Norcross Wilderness Foundation Inc.	$ 13,029
Patagonia Inc.	$ 28,795
The Lazar Foundation	$ 182,184
Unilever Foundation	$ 484,215
Wilburforce Foundation	$ 968,877
Yellowstone to Yukon	$ 235,131
Canadian Grants 2001-2011	$ 1,514,728
Art Twomey Memorial	$ 15,284
Banff Centre	$ 1,000
BC Cattlemans Association	$ 5,000
Candian Products Forest	$ 5,000
Canadian Mountain Holidays	$ 1,500
The Chawkers Foundation	$ 10,000
CPAWS	$ 30,750
Community fund - North Kootenay Lake Society	$ 600
Columbia Valley Foundation	$ 7,535
Columbia Wetlands Stewardship	$ 16,939
Crowsnest Conservation Society	$ 10,685
Ducks Unlimited	$ 1,000
East Kootenay Invasive Plant Council	$ 500
Encana Foundation	$ 45,000
The Eleanor Luxton Historical Society	$ 60,000
Federation of Canadian Municipalities	$ 22,445
Fortis BC	$ 15,000
Fraser Basin Council	$ 15,000
The Kimberley Nature Park Society	$ 3,807
Kicking Horse Coffee	$ 20,945
Lever Ponds Foundation	$ 18,050
Lush Handmade Cosmetics	$ 5,000
Lake Windermere District Lions Club	$ 1,264
The MacLean Foundation	$ 50,972
George Cedric Metcalf Foundation	$ 5,000
Mountain Equipment Coop	$ 56,011
Nature Canada	$ 19,000
Nature Conservancy Canada	$ 1,000
Nature Trust BC	$ 1,000
Osprey Community Foundation	$ 2,634
Pembina Institute	$ 1,500
RBC Foundation	$ 106,585
Real Estate Foundation	$ 116,000
Yves Rocher Amerique Du Nord Inc.	$ 7,000
The Rockies Institute Fernie Chamber of Commerce	$ 1,200
Sea Change Marine Conservation	$ 417
Shell Environmental Fund	$ 120,200
Sierra Club of BC Foundation	$ 101,137
Snowy Owl Management Inc.	$ 1,000
The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund	$ 14,000
The Sage Foundation	$ 2,000
The Richard Ivey Foundation	$ 150,150
TD Friends of the Environment	$ 13,600
Tembec Industries Inc.	$ 96,197
Tides Canada	$ 81,902
Transcanada Pipelines Ltd.	$ 15,000
Vancouver Foundation	$ 159,357
Van City Credit Union	$ 5,000
Waste Management	$ 1,000
West Coast Environmental Law	$ 32,398
Western Canadian Wilderness Committee	$ 1,500
Terasen Gas	$ 10,000
Wildsight Golden	$ 3,767
World Wildlife Fund	$ 25,717
Total Grants 2001-2011	$ 6,283,647
Canadian Gov't Grants	$ 1,508,898
American Grants	$ 3,260,021
Canadian Non Gov't Grants	$ 1,514,728
11 year average % of total grants
Canadian Gov't Grants	23%
American Grants	54%
Canadian Non Gov't Grants	24%
11 year average %Total Non-Government Grants
Canadian Grants	31%
American Grants	67%
Membership revenue 2001-2011 Membership @ $20/person average 2001-2011 Membership revenue as % of total grants	$87,522 382 1.28%

Source - Wildsight Audited Financials 2001-2011