International Paper selling thousands of acres to environmentalists

[Karmadillo]

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=102153&ran=194145&tref=po

International Paper announced today that it will sell 218,000 acres of company-owned forest and timberland in 10 states, including more than 20,000 acres in southeastern Virginia, in a deal described as the biggest private land conservation sale in the history of the South.

The Nature Conservancy, an environmental group that intends to protect the lands from future development, is the biggest buyer. It will acquire 173,000 acres in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi. Its officials called the move the biggest in the group’s 55 years of existence.

Another green group, the Conservation Fund, will purchase other property in South Carolina, completing the Southern sweep, worth about $300 million for International Paper.

Private investment companies dedicated to leaving alone ecologically sensitive woodlands while allowing limited harvests on other parcels also are buying forests along with the environmental groups, especially in Virginia, according to details of the deal.

more...

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. Truly good news.

Thanks for the post.

[glitch]

2. And then they find out some big coal company owns the mineral rights.

I kid.

[silverweb]

3. YES!!

:bounce:

[yorkiemommie1]

4. aaah..... good !

thanks!

[blue neen]

5. It's nice to hear some good environmental news for a change.

Great catch!

[wordpix]

17. this is about it for the past 6 yrs.

[sam the dawg]

6. good news

good news.
hope private developers don't "take it away" with an eminent domain claim for better economic use of the property.

[drm604]

7. K&R

That's very good news.
I used to support the Nature Conservancy years ago. I'm not sure why I got away from it. I think I may start again.

[nicknameless]

13. Please give to *real* envt. groups. See post #9 :(

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Give it up for the Nature Conservancy!

I donated when I had some free cash (my, how long ago). Glad to see they're doing alright without me.

[nicknameless]

10. See post #9 :(

[RebelOne]

24. I used to donate to The Nature Conservancy, but when

I found out that they advocated and promoted hunting, I cut them off.

[nicknameless]

9. Sorry to post bad news, but the Nature Conservancy is now horrible :(

A few years back, they agreed to include corporate people on their Board.
Now the land in their possession is at risk for logging, mining etc.
There was a heart-breaking series about this that ran in WaPo in 2003.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A9888-2003May3¬Found=true

Part One : Inside the Nature Conservancy
Nonprofit Land Bank Amasses Billions
Charity Builds Assets on Corporate Partnerships

By David B. Ottaway and Joe Stephens
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, May 4, 2003; Page A01

The Arlington-based Nature Conservancy has blossomed into the world's richest environmental group, amassing $3 billion in assets by pledging to save precious places. Known for its advertisements decorated with forests, streams and the soothing voice of actor Paul Newman, the 52-year-old charity preserves millions of acres across the nation.

Yet the Conservancy has logged forests, engineered a $64 million deal paving the way for opulent houses on fragile grasslands and drilled for natural gas under the last breeding ground of an endangered bird species.

The nonprofit Conservancy has traveled far beyond its humble beginnings, when it relied on small donors and acquired a few small plots at a time. Its governing board and advisory council now include executives and directors from one or more oil companies, chemical producers, auto manufacturers, mining concerns, logging operations and coal-burning electric utilities.

Some of those corporations have paid millions in environmental fines. Last year, they and other corporations donated $225 million to the Conservancy -- an amount approaching that given by individuals.

<snip>

:cry:

[SoCalDem]

11. This is how republicans "win".. They send their "dainty/presentable"

ones into decent organizations and change it from within.. They have done this with sooooooo many organizations it's pathetic.

People hear the name and think it's one thing...and it's morphed into another :(

[nicknameless]

12. Exactly.

:(

[The Stranger]

18. Meanwhile, they demonize, ostracize and destroy anyone who truly speaks

out as "violent" or "terrorist" or "crazy," and dupe would-be Progressives, even so very many on these boards.

[drm604]

15. Maybe it's time for a class action lawsuit

to try to force The Nature Conservancy to do what they promised to do with the money that people donated to them. It looks like they may have accepted donations under false pretenses. If I recall correctly (and, to be fair, it's been a number of years) when they purchased land there was supposed to be an addition to the deed that prohibited development. Am I remembering wrong?

[nicknameless]

20. I really don't know.

The money I donated years back was for acres to be set aside in Costa Rica and Bolivia (I think).
So what are they doing with that land? I have no idea.

General donations would be handled differently, but I've come to doubt that the money is well spent.
A class action suit would be in order, IMO, but they've got deep pockets (our money) to fight back.

I was completely heart broken to read what had happened to that charity. :(

[drm604]

21. They may have deep pockets

but that also makes them a better target for a law firm to launch a class action on a contingency basis. The bigger the pockets, the bigger the potential recovery. Maybe the land could be taken from them and put into better hands or maybe the courts could supervise their activities and make sure that they do what they advertise.

[nicknameless]

30. I hope you're right.

I'm not sure what's going to be done about them. This series ran almost three years ago.
There was a bit of a Senate investigation, but the Senate is too right leaning to do anything now.
The Conservancy swore off of certain practices, mostly the loans they were making to members.

I wish we could get the corporations out of it and go back to the Nature Conservancy of the 1990s.
I read that one woman had willed $400,000 to them. She must be spinning in her grave.

[wordpix]

23. TNC can sell properties to help purchase larger pieces, e.g. if they get

a 25 ac. donation in MA worth $1/2 million, they might sell it off b/c that 25 ac. is not adjacent to any other preserved land and perhaps sits in the middle of suburbia. TNC then uses the $1/2 M to help buy, let's say, 1,000 ac. of rainforest in Brazil.

It's not a bad strategy considering the trashing of America and Parking Lot Nation, i.e. it's sometimes worth sacrificing a small property in an ecologically fragmented area to preserve larger acreage, an ecologically intact area and rare or endangered species. If the donor agrees to it and signs on the dotted line, it's totally above board and legal.

If you're looking to donate a smaller piece land for conservation and you want that land to remain preserved in perpetuity, it's best to donate to your local or regional land trust, not TNC. I'm on the board of a small land trust and we preserve everything we're given.

[wordpix]

22. sale comes to $1376/ac.-sounds low to me & maybe TNC plans to log it

It wouldn't be a bad to log forested land if TNC does selective, sustainable logging but if they're planning to clearcut, that's BAD.

[northzax]

26. wanna know why it's so cheap?

shhh, don't tell anyone. most of it is already logged. you don't think International Paper is selling land that is useful to them, do you? And what isn't logged is probably unloggable due to envrionmental or political reasons.

but still.
here's the map, by the way: http://www.nature.org/pressroom/ip/files/map_southernforests.pdf

Read the fine print. While it's a sale, much of it is to Conservation Forestry, LLC, and investment group that makes money off of forest products. Much of this will continue to be logged by CF, that's where the 300 million smackaroos came from.

[rman]

14. fake environmental groups

not really a surprise.

[texpatriot2004]

16. What a great decision, wonderful news nm

[earth mom]

19. Opps thought this was good news...

and then read the thread through and now see that the Nature Conservancy is corrupt-damn it all to hell! :grr:

[melissinha]

25. my coworker says they're a good group

she has been a member for almost 30 years, she said Nature Conservany is a really good group, she is no run-of the mill in name only environmentalist, she has done stuff in MS and TX and is currently running a local WIldlife Sanctuary .....she said that sometimes they buy on behalf of other groups cause they have the funds and are able to swoop in, and then are paid back...

:kick:

[boot@9]

31. I am a member of the TNC

they have done great things in West Texas where 95% of the land is privately owned. They have some great preserves and in my opinion the TNC deserves accodlades.

[katty]

27. very good news :)

[pitohui]

28. they have done a great deal of good around here

the louisiana branch of the nature conservancy has done great good in preserving bird habitat

[Raine]

29. WONDERFUL

:thumbsup:

[goforit]

32. The only way!!!.... Hats off to sanity.

[Winston702]

33. They do not need the wood

IP will be closing a very large mill in the next few months. No mill, no need for wood.