Conflict of Interest Policy for The Nature Conservancy’s Board of Directors

The Washington Post raised concerns about conflicts of interest, accountability and disclosure at the Conservancy. Specifically, the series implied that members of the Board of Directors used their positions with the Conservancy to offload marginal, low-value lands. The series also mischaracterized a pool of funds called the President's Discretionary Fund.

In each “conflict of interest” case cited by the Post, the involved Nature Conservancy board member (or his or her business) donated or offered at a reduced price either an interest in land, goods or services. It is not unusual for members of a board of a nonprofit organization to give generous financial support, time and expertise, and in our case, donations of ecologically significant lands. That is, in part, why people are recruited to serve on boards. We view these donations with gratitude. All financial transactions between members of the board and The Nature Conservancy are governed by conflict of interest and recusal policies.

All board-related conflicts of interest are fully disclosed on IRS Form 990, a form the Conservancy and all nonprofits are required by law to file annually.

Georgia-Pacific –
Cat Island, Louisiana

The Post examined a 9,500-acre parcel of land that the Conservancy acquired from Georgia- Pacific for $7.5 million in 2000. The CEO of Georgia-Pacific, A.G. (Pete) Correll, is a member of our Board of Directors.

An independent appraisal of the property was conducted prior to our purchase to establish its fair market value. Georgia-Pacific agreed to sell the property for $1 million less than fair market value. Mr. Correll did not participate in the actions of the Board on this acquisition.

The article describes the property by saying “much of it stripped of trees by clear-cutting.” The parcel in question is now part of Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge. In a 2000 Congressional hearing on the establishment of the refuge, the Chief of Refuges for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pointed out that this parcel “supports one of the highest densities of virgin bald cypress trees in the Nation. Many of these trees are estimated to be between 500 and 1,000 years old, and they include the nation’s largest bald cypress tree, which is 17 feet in diameter and has a circumference of 53 feet. Overall, the forested wetlands typical of Cat Island represent one of the most valuable and productive wildlife habitat types in the United States.”

Georgia-Pacific –
Roanoke River, North Carolina

The Post cites the Conservancy’s joint management agreement in 1994 with Georgia-Pacific as “the Conservancy helped Georgia-Pacific manage environmental risks arising from its logging along North Carolina’s Lower Roanoke River.” This agreement with Georgia-Pacific set aside 21,000 acres of Georgia-Pacific-owned land in the Lower Roanoke River landscape. Under terms of that agreement, two biologically significant areas exceeding 6,000 acres were permanently placed off limits to logging. The rest could be logged selectively by helicopter but only with the joint approval of Georgia-Pacific and the Conservancy. Since that agreement, no logging has occurred except on three demonstration plots totaling fewer than 40 acres where logging preceded the 1994 agreement. When the paper company approached the Conservancy to change the easement to make logging easier, we declined. On January 21, 2003, all 21,000 acres were donated by Georgia-Pacific to the Conservancy’s North Carolina chapter.

Orvis Services Company –
Jefferson County, Florida

The Post mentions the Conservancy’s purchase of an easement from The Orvis Services Company. Orvis owns a 1,622-acre property in Jefferson County, Florida. This property contains important habitat for the imperiled red-cockaded woodpecker, a species that the Conservancy has targeted for conservation action throughout its range. The Conservancy’s Red Hill Conservation Area plan identified these lands as a high protection priority, both because of the high quality of the habitat and increasing fragmentation of the surrounding landscape. An outside appraisal placed a fair market value on a conservation easement for the property at approximately $1.3 million. Orvis agreed to sell the Conservancy a conservation easement for 50 percent of the fair market value, or $649,000. The Conservancy’s Florida chapter then acquired the easement.

Composition of the Board of Directors

In the Post's quest to portray our Board of Directors as unduly influenced by Fortune 500 companies, the series overlooked a number of well-known scientists and others from academia who serve on the Board. They include John Fitzpatrick of Cornell University, Joy Zedler of the University of Wisconsin, Joel Cohen of The Rockefeller and Columbia Universities, Fran James of Florida State University and Bill Murdoch of the University of California. Esteemed biologists such as E.O. Wilson of Harvard and Dan Simberloff of the University of Tennessee have also served on the Conservancy's Board in the past. Of the corporate leaders who do serve on the Board, they serve enthusiastically as individuals, not as representatives of their particular businesses.