$US 90 Million to B.C. Green Groups From the Hewlett Foundation & the Packard Foundation (2000-2010)

Breathtakingly beautiful and spectacularly wild, supernatural British Columbia is one of the last remaining places on earth where there are vast spaces of wilderness and huge, virtually undisturbed ecosystems. What a precious province we have. Seriously. It is to be expected that people from all around the world want to help protect British Columbia for future generations.

But some American foundations have spent an inordinate amount of money in B.C. compared to other countries that are naturally just as spectacular but in far greater need of resources and expertise for environmental protection. Take, for example, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation ("Hewlett") and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation ("Packard"), two charitable foundations that were created by the founders of the tech giant, Hewlett-Packard.

Since 1999, the Hewlett foundation and the Packard foundation have granted $90 million to environmental organizations in Canada. The top recipient, by far, was Tides Canada which received a total of $28 million.

As depicted in the diagram below, about 90 percent of the funds granted by the Hewlett and the Packard foundations were for projects to tackle the Canadian energy industry and to create a huge park right smack on the strategic, north coast of British Columbia - Canada's gateway to Asia. The thing is, this park isn't called the Hewlett-Packard park. Instead, its called the Great Bear Rainforest and its now used by the U.S.-funded Dogwood Initiative as a pretext for seeking a federal ban on oil tanker traffic. No oil tankers means no oil exports to Asia - and that the U.S. gets to keep its monopoly on Canadian oil exports.

Over the past decade, the Hewlett foundation and Packard foundation spent $80 million towards "reforming" Canada's energy sector and for projects on the strategic, north coast of B.C. That included:

$55 Million for the Great Bear Rainforest Initiative and Rainforest Solutions, a project of Forest Ethics, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace that led towards the creation of the Great Bear Rainforest, and other projects on B.C.'s north coast. This includes about $1.5 million for marine protected areas.
$13.4 million for the Boreal Forest Initiative and "responsible" energy development
$12.4 million for "addressing" the energy sector, especially in Northern Alberta.

Of the $90 million from the Hewlett foundation and the Packard foundation, $55 million was granted to three foundations: Tides USA, Tides Canada and the Pew Charitable Trusts. These foundations then re-grant the funds, or portion thereof, to smaller environmental organizations. The question is, who got all this American money?

Between 2000 and 2003, a core handful of B.C. environmental groups were directly funded by the Hewlett foundation and the Packard foundation. In 2003, Tides Canada Foundation obtained equivalency status in the U.S. and began filing U.S. tax returns. This allowed the billion-dollar U.S. foundations to grant funds directly to Tides Canada which then "canadianizes" the money, so to speak, and re-grants the American money to other Canadian organizations - in the name of Tides Canada. See how it works?

Prior to 2003, the B.C. environmental organizations that were most funded by the Hewlett and the Packard foundations were the David Suzuki Foundation, Ecotrust, Ecojustice, the Pembina Foundation for Environmental Research and Education (which, in turn, funds the Pembina Institute), the Georgia Straight Alliance, Living Oceans Society (which, incidentally, is federally registered in the U.S. but not in Canada), Greenpeace, Forest Ethics, the Sierra Club, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, the Westcoast Environmental Law Research Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund of Canada, the Nature Conservancy and so on. 'Pretty much the whole monopoly board, from Mediterranean Avenue to Boardwalk. It is not unreasonable to expect that these same groups are the ones that, since 2003, the Hewlett foundation and the Packard foundation have continued to fund, albeit indirectly, through Tides Canada and Tides USA.

Of the $47.5 million granted by the Hewlett foundation, $13.4 million went to the Pew Charitable Trusts which is heavily funding the Boreal Forest Initiative through Ducks Unlimited USA and Ducks Unlimited Canada. In a previous post, questions have been raised about whether funds from the Hewlett foundation in San Francisco, went to Pew in Philadelphia, then to Ducks Unlimited in Memphis Tennessee, and then on to Ducks Unlimited Canada in Manitoba, and ultimately, to First Nations and environmental organizations in B.C. and Alberta.

This post provides links to the original information presented in the above table. These links go to the grants databases of the foundations or to excerpts of U.S. tax returns that have been up-loaded to this blog. In general, excerpts of tax returns are provided for grants made during earlier years, 1999-2005. The grants databases of these foundations don't go back far enough to include all the grants going back ten years, that's why excerpts of tax returns are provided.

For the grants database of the Hewlett Foundation, click here.
For the grants database of the Packard Foundation, click here.

B.C. Spaces for Nature (2000): $100,000

$50,000 from Packard in 2000 "for support for the Environmental Mining Council of British Columbia"
$50,000 from Packard in 2000 “for work in the Stikine River watershed.”

Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (CPAWS) (2006-2010): $1,232,622

$100,000 from Packard in 2006 "For a British Columbia Seafood Choices Consortium."
$100,000 from Packard in 2007 "For continued support of the SeaChoice program to reform fisheries policies and practices in Canada."
$400,000 from Packard in 2008 "To continue Sustainable Seafood Canada's SeaChoice program."
$600,000 from Packard in 2009 "To continue Sustainable Seafood Canada's SeaChoice program."
$32,622 from Packard in 2010 "To develop a strategic plan for the SeaChoice network."

David Suzuki Foundation (1999-2004): $3,317,100

$315,000 from Hewlett in 1999 for the Pacific Salmon Forests Project
$250,000 from Hewlett in 2000 for the Pacific Salmon Forests Project
$250,000 from Hewlett in 2001 for the Pacific Salmon Forests Project
$250,000 from Hewlett in 2002 “for the forestry and turning point programs”
$250,000 from Hewlett in 2004 for the forestry & Turning Point programs
$500,000 from Hewlett in 2005/06 for the forestry & Turning Point programs. As it appears, this was paid through Tides USA as part of a $750,000 grant for 2004-2006.
$362,600 from Packard in 2000 for the Pacific Salmon Forests Project
$24,500 from Packard in 2001 for support for staff development
$400,000 from Packard in 2002 for the Pacific Salmon Forests Project
$175,000 from Packard in 2003 for marine conservation on the central & north coast of B.C.
$200,000 from Packard in 2003 for the Turning Point
$340,000 from Packard in 2004 for marine and terrestrial conservation programs on the B.C. coast.

Ecojustice Canada Society (2005-2008): $275,000

$125,000 from Hewlett in 2007 "for reducing the environmental impacts of oil and gas development in Northern Canada" (for 16 months)
$150,000 from Hewlett in 2008 "for reducing the environmental impacts of oil and gas development in Northern Canada" (32 months)

Ecotrust Canada (2000-2004): $2,105,500

$750,000 from Hewlett in 2004 "for general support" (51 months)
$38,000 from Hewlett in 2004 "for support of Ecotrust Canada's strategic planning efforts." (14 months)
$100,000 from Packard in 2000 “Support for a project to work with the Heiltsuk Nation to discover sustainable development opportunities on the midcoast of British Columbia.”
$300,000 from Packard in 2001 “Support for efforts to harness cultural and economic resources to protect the biodiversity of British Columbia’s coastal temperate rainforest region.”
$350,000 from Packard in 2002 “for efforts to harness cultural and economic resources to protect the biodiversity of the coastal temperate rainforest region of British Columbia.”
$350,000 from Packard in 2003 “for efforts to harness cultural and economic resources to protect the biodiversity of the coastal temperate rainforest region of British Columbia.”
$217,500 from Packard in 2004 “to support efforts to promote the emergence of a conservation economy in the North and Central Coast of British Columbia.” NOTE: Tax returns state that this $217,500 was granted but was not paid in 2004.

Ecotrust (2000-2004): $865,000

$200,000 from Hewlett in 2000 "for general support"
$250,000 from Hewlett in 2001 "for general support"
$250,000 from Hewlett in 2002 "for general support"
$65,000 from Packard in 2002 “support for the bioregional salmon initiative and Alaska community ecosystem program.”
$100,000 from Packard in 2004 “For the Sustainable Fisheries = Sustainable Seafood Marketing Campaign.”

Endswell Foundation (2002): $75,000

$75,000 from Packard in 2002 "to provide analytical technical advice to the Rainforest Solutions project."

Environmental Aboriginal Guardianship through Law & Education (EAGLE) (2004): $510,000

$400,000 from Hewlett in 2003 to Environmental Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education (EAGLE) "for general support of Environmental-Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education's ...."

$110,00 from Packard in 2004 “for the Haida Nation’s efforts to regain control of resource management in its traditional territory.”

Forest Ethics (2002-2006): $1,025,000

$350,000 from Hewlett in 2004 "for the ForestEthics' British Columbia Coast Program."
$350,000 from Hewlett in 2006 "for the ForestEthics' British Columbia Coast Program."

$200,000 from Packard in 2002 “for support for the British Columbia Program and work on shifting market forces to sustainably harvested forest products.”
$75,000 from Packard in 2003 “for the United States implementation of forest Ethic’s B.C. Campaign.”
$50,000 from Packard in 2004 “For protection of the temperate rainforests of coastal British Columbia.”

Forest Stewardship Council of BC (through Tides USA) (2000-2002): $185,000

$50,000 from Packard in 2000 through Tides USA “for the Forest Stewardship Council of BC”
$100,000 from Packard in 2001 through Tides USA “for the Forest Stewardship Council of BC”
$35,000 from Packard in 2002 through Tides USA for “Support for the Forest Stewardship Council’s BC Regional Initiative”

Georgia Straight Alliance (2000): $50,000

$50,000 from Packard in 2000 for “Support for the strategic planning process and related activities on Salmon Aquaculture.”

Gitga'at Development Corporation (2005): $50,000

$90,000 from Hewlett in 2005 "for the Hartley Bay Hydropower Project Feasibility Study."

Greenpeace Fund (2007-2010): $1,150,000

$250,000 from Packard in 2007 "for transforming retail seafood procurement practices."
$300,000 from Packard in 2009 "To lead a North American retailer campaign."
$600,000 from Packard in 2010 "To continue a North American retailer campaign."

Living Oceans Society (2003-2010): $1,400,000

$175,000 from Packard to Living Oceans Society in 2003 “for the farmed salmon markets campaign of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform.”
$50,000 from Packard to Living Oceans Society in 2003 “for Living Ocean’s marine protected area campaign.”
$50,000 from Packard to Living Oceans Society in 2004 “for a campaign to establish a network of marine protected areas on the Pacific coast of Canada”
$225,000 from Packard to LOS in 2006 "For Farmed and Dangerous, the farmed salmon markets campaign of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform."
$225,000 from Packard to LOS in 2007 "for continued support of Farmed and Dangerous, the farmed salmon markets campaign of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform."
$225,000 from Packard to LOS in 2008 "For continued support of the farmed salmon markets campaign of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform."
$225,000 from Packard to LOS in 2009 "For phase-out support of the farmed salmon markets campaign of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform."
$225,000 from Packard to LOS in 2010 "To strengthen social media strategies and build a senior management team to lead the implementation of the new strategic plan."

Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI), Redmond WA - for Living Oceans Society (2000-2008): $1,150,000

$200,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2000 “support for the Living Ocean Society Marine Protected Area Program.”
$50,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2001 “support for the Living Ocean Society Marine Protected Area Program.”
$125,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2002 “support for the Living Ocean Society Marine Protected Area Program.”
$175,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2004 “for Farmed and Dangerous, the farmed salmon markets campaign of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform.”
$225,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2005 “For Farmed and Dangerous, the farmed salmon markets campaign of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform.”
$125,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2006 "for Living Oceans Society's Sustainable Fisheries Campaign and for general operating expenses"
$125,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2007 "for Living Ocean Society's general operating expenses"
$125,000 from Packard to MCBI in 2008 "for operating expenses for organizational capacity building and support for a Canadian network working on marine issues"

Nature Conservancy: $15 MILLION

$15 million from Packard in 2005 to the Nature Conservancy in the form of a loan of up to $15 million to support both environmental protection and economic diversification in 21 million hectares of coastal rainforest in British Columbia." This appears to have become part of the $35,936,686 that the Nature Conservancy paid to the Great Bear Escrow Agency.

National Environmental Trust (2004-2006): $1,250,000

$1,000,000 from Packard in 2004 “for the first phase of a three year market campaign to reform the salmon aquaculture industry.”
$250,000 from Packard in 2006 "For the Pure Salmon Campaign, a campaign to reduce the harmful environmental effects of carnivorous finfish aquaculture in coastal net pens."

Pembina Foundation for Environmental Research & Education (2003-2009): $2,840,000

$180,000 from Hewlett in 2003 "for general support of Gaia's Foundation for Earth Education, the Canadian implementation" (for 24 months)
$400,000 from Hewlett in 2004 "for the Pembina Research and Education project" (for 24 months)
$360,000 from Hewlett in 2005 "for general support of the Pembina Institute's Kyoto Protocol in Canada implementation pro..." (for 24 months)
$600,000 from Hewlett in 2006 "for the Pembina Institute's Canadian energy development project." (for 32 months)
$500,000 from Hewlett in 2007 "for general support of the Pembina Institute's Kyoto Protocol in Canada implementation pro..." (for 29 months)
$600,000 from Hewlett in 2008 "for Pembina Institute's Canadian energy development program." (for 24 months)
$200,000 from Hewlett in 2009 "for the Canadian and International Climate Change efforts" (for 12 months)

Pew Charitable Trusts (2004-2010): $13,435,000

$1,835,000 from Hewlett in 2004 "for the Western Boreal Forest Public Land Conservation and Responsible Energy Development."
$6.5 million from Hewlett in 2006 "for general support of the Western Boreal Forest Public Land Conservation and Responsible..."
$4 million from Hewlett in 2009 "for general support of the International Boreal Conservation Campaign."
$1,100,000 from Hewlett in 2011 "for support of the International Boreal Conservation Campaign."

Sierra Club of British Columbia (2000-2007): $2,458,000

$375,000 from Hewlett in 2005 "for the Great Bear Rainforest campaign."
$35,000 from Hewlett in 2005 "for strategic planning and staff communications training."
$350,000 from Hewlett in 2007 "for the Great Bear Rainforest campaign."

$900,000 from Packard in 2000 for “Support for a program to preserve and protect the remaining ancient forests of British Columbia.”
$320,000 from Packard in 2001. However, the initial grant was for $1,100,000 for “Support for a program to preserve and protect the remaining ancient forests of British Columbia” but $780,000 was returned to Packard by the Sierra Club.
$250,000 from Packard in 2003 “for continued support of the Coastal Forest Campaign to protect the biodiversity of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest"
$28,000 from Packard in 2003 "for board development."
$200,000 from Packard in 2004 “For the Forest and Wildlands Program to protect the biodiversity of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest.”

Sierra Legal Defense Fund (2000-2003): $322,886

$160,000 from Packard in 2000 for “support for the Endangered Species Campaign.”
$120,000 from Packard in 2001 for “support for the Endangered Species Campaign.”
$42,886 from Packard in 2003 in two grants: $16,600 “for fund development assessment and planning” and $26,286 “for fund development assessment planning (and for IRS withholding).”

Watershed Watch Salmon Society (2001-2002): $100,000

$50,000 from Packard in 2001 “Support for enhancing salmon stewardship.”
$50,000 from Packard in 2002 “For enhancing salmon stewardship through examining hatcheries projects”

Watershed Watch Salmon Society (2001-2004): $125,000

$50,000 from Packard in 2001 “Support for enhancing salmon stewardship.”
$50,000 from Packard in 2002 “For enhancing salmon stewardship through examining hatcheries projects”
$25,000 from Packard in 2004 "For a fund development plan."

Westcoast Environmental Law Research Foundation (2000-2002): $240,000

$200,000 from Packard in 2000 “support for the Forest Stewardship Council renewal project.”
$40,000 from Packard in 2002 “support for ensuring that emerging forest certification systems in British Columbia support critical conservation objectives.”

World Wildlife Fund Canada (2000-2002): $343,800

$243,800 from Packard in 2000 $43,800 for “support for marine protected area work in British Columbia” and $200,000 “for continued support for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas in British Columbia.”
$100,000 from Packard in 2002 “support for establishing marine protected areas in British Columbia.”

Tides Canada (2001-2010): $28,215,103

2001:

$640,000 from Packard “for start-up costs and the creation of a regranting fund to support marine protection efforts in British Columbia.”

2002:

$150,000 from Hewlett for the Rainforest Solutions Project
$990,908 from Packard “for the Rainforest Solutions project."
$780,000 from Packard “for efforts to secure greater levels of protection for the temperate rainforests on the central and north coast of British Columbia”
$346,500 from Packard for “support for development of a strategic donor outreach initiative, and for the Coast Alliance Aquaculture Reform project and support for sustainable aquaculture in BC.”
$35,000 from Packard for “support for alternative economic development the Taku River Tlingit Salmon Smokery.”

2003:

$1,115,000 from Hewlett for the Rainforest Solutions Project
$175,000 from Packard “to develop indigenous Canadian capacity for conservation philanthropy.”
$760,000 from Packard in three grants: $250,000 "for the Rainforest Solutions Project,“ $250,000 “for the Rainforest Solutions Project: Science and Planning Program,” and $260,000 “for the Rainforest Solutions project.”

2004:

$70,000 from Hewlett for the development of a strategic plan to address oil and gas development in British Columbia
$982,500 from Packard in four grants: $250,000 “for the Rainforest Solutions Project to implement the socially responsible investment strategy of its conservation and sustainability initiative on the B.C. coast,” $532,500 “for the Rainforest Solutions Project: mapping a new model for conservation and sustainable development on the British Columbia coast,” $50,000 “for a project to implement Ecosystem-based Management in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest” and $150,000 “to promote and increase philanthropy for conservation initiatives in Canada.”

2005:

$50,000 from Hewlett to the Sage Centre (Tides Canada Initiatives Society" for identifying and communicating potential impacts of climate change specific to Canada's..."

2006:

$175,000 from Packard "for the Coastal First Nations-Turning Point Initiative"
$100,000 from Packard "for the Rainforest Solutions Project"

2007:

$3,378,987 from Hewlett for the Coast Opportunities Foundation Fund (First Nations on the north coast of B.C.) (for 48 months)
$3,434,245 from Hewlett "for the Coast Opportunties Foundation Donor Advised Fund" (for 48 months)
$3,956,632 from Hewlett "for the Ecosystem-Based Management Implementation Donor Advised Fund" (for 48 months)
$1.5 million from Hewlett "for the Oil and Gas Fund project" (for 36 months)

$5,756,680 from Packard "to fulfill the Foundation's commitment to the Coast Conservation Endowment Fund Foundation"
$3 million from Packard "to support ecosystem-based management implementation in the Great Bear Rainforest through 2010" (for 36 months)
$318,650 from Packard "for start-up and regional conservation management initiatives of the Coast Conservation Endowment Fund Foundation"
$50,000 from Packard "for fund development for the Rainforest Solutions Project"

2008 - 2010:

$400,000 from Hewlett in 2010 for efforts to reduce fossil fuel development
$50,000 from Hewlett in 2009 for developing a business plan for the organization

Tides USA (2001-2010): $13,625,000

2001 - 2002:

$500,000 from Packard in 2001 for “support for the Trans-boundary Watershed Alliance”
$550,000 from Packard in 2002 for “continued general support for the Transboundary Watershed Alliance’s ongoing efforts to protect the ecological integrity of the transboundary region.”