Mr. Mark Tercek
President and CEO of The Nature Conservancy
Worldwide Office
The Nature Conservancy
4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100
Arlington, VA 22203-1606
Dear Mr. Tercek, August 17, 2010
We studied your website, but could not find answers to some items of interest. Therefore, we would appreciate your help by providing answers to the following questions:
TNC claims it makes decisions using "great science and smart partnerships," and that the "Earth is heating up because gases produced from vehicles, power plants, deforestation, and other sources are building up in the atmosphere, acting like a thick blanket over our planet."
Does TNC base policies on Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW)? Yes _____ No_____
Does TNC base initiatives on Nature makes climate change? Yes_____ No_____
Does TNC base initiatives on Political science? Yes______ No_______
Does TNC consider the (over) 30,000 scientists whose findings reveal Nature makes climate change? Yes____ No____
Please provide the names of all of TNC affiliates, partners and joint initiatives.
Please provide dollar amounts TNC received in tax funds (a.k.a. federal grant monies) for each year from 1951 through 2009.
Please provide dollar amounts TNC received in tax exempt bonds from organizations including The Colorado Educational and Cultural Authority.
Please provide actual number and locations of TNC's deeded acres._________
Please provide number and locations of acres TNC's in the process of acquisitioning._____ Here you claim you are not a partner with U.S. Army: September 6, 2007
The Nature Conservancy Letter to Chuck Sylvester
The following article in the Conservationist claims you are.
Is TNC a partner with any branch of the U.S. Military? Yes_____ No ______
Your answers will be posted on: www.LandAndWaterUSA.com
Thank you in advance for your courtesy in answering our questions in full and to the best of your knowledge. I will call you next Wednesday, August 25th, if I haven't heard from you by then.
Roni Bell Sylvester
Volunteer Editor Land And Water USA L.L.C.
Signed hard copy sent U.S. Postal Service
Ask the Conservationist |
 |
It is increasingly clear that innovative and effective partnerships are key to the long-term success of conservation. So when a Facebook friend from Texas asked about The Nature Conservancy's involvement on military bases, it seemed like a perfect topic to address in our Ask the Conservationist column. We invite you to read on and when you're done, send us your questions on any conservation subject for one of the Conservancy's hundreds of staff scientists. (Note: We regret that we can only answer one or two questions each month and that we cannot answer the others offline.) Rudy G. Castro from McKinney, TX writes:
Debbie Keller, the Conservancy's liaison to the Department of Defense responds: We may seem like unlikely partners, but yes, The Nature Conservancy is actively working with the Department of Defense (DoD) to manage habitats in and around military bases for biodiversity and ecosystem health. Defense testing and military training require isolated areas, which are often wilderness areas void of humans but filled with a large number of natural species. Urban and suburban encroachment has become increasingly problematic for both military installations and ecosystems nationwide. The Conservancy assists the DoD with management plans for threatened and endangered species, habitat management with prescribed fire and invasive species removal. At times we provide the research and best management practices, as well as assist staff at military bases across the country. The Conservancy also works to buffer the installations with conservation lands. Working with the DoD program known as Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative, the Conservancy helps achieve permanent land protection surrounding bases in order to provide conservation habitat and wildlife corridors. In Florida, for instance, the Conservancy completed an analysis of natural areas surrounding 10 of Florida's defense installations. The study sought land protection opportunities in a 10-mile zone around each base that could benefit both nature and the military. These partnerships are the result of collaboration and relationships that will continue to protect the biodiversity both on and off the bases. Working side-by-side, Conservancy staff and defense staff train each other - and local communities - to minimize habitat and species impacts both on and off the bases. http://support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=asktheconservationist_201008 |
|