Original letter sent to Ford Motor Company
Reply from Ford, including statement from Earthwatch
Response from Audubon
Letter from Ford Motor Company:
Thank you for your comments about Ford Motor Company Fund's grant to the National Audubon Society and Earthwatch Institute.
We find it valuable to hear from our customers and gain a better understanding of what is important to you.
Ford Fund supports non-profit organizations in five priority areas: education, environment, health and welfare, civic affairs and public
policy, and arts and humanities. We have supported many organizations that advance environmental education, biodiversity
research and conservation. Our grant to the Audubon Society and Earthwatch are based on these criteria.
Ford's contribution to the National Audubon Society is limited to supporting its bird monitoring and environmental education
programs. As a result of your comments, we asked the organization to clarify its position on the automotive, mining, logging and
farming industry to address the concerns you raised. Their response is below.
Additionally, our grant to Earthwatch Institute will be used to establish Conservation Research Stations in Asia, Africa and South
America, and assist in study efforts in established U.S. National Parks. We also shared your concerns with
Earthwatch. Roger Bergen, the organization's president stated, "Earthwatch Institute is a non-advocacy science and education based organization.
Our organization is not involved in any campaigns to ban off-road vehicles or deny public access to land, and has no hidden agendas
concerning agriculture, timber, mining or the motor industry."
Ford values your comments and appreciates your loyalty. We regret any concern the announcements of our donations to the
National Audubon Society and Earthwatch Institute have caused.
Thank you for contacting Ford Motor Company.
Sincerely,
Sandra E. Ulsh
National Audubon Society Response to Concerns
The National Audubon Society has provided the following information to address your concerns. The Audubon Society is a
mainstream conservation group that recognizes that people are the solution to existing environmental problems. Among its
activities are helping American communities find ways to peacefully coexist with nature. It knows that industries, businesses,
communities, and families must benefit from the land we live on. Audubon is working to find a middle ground where people benefit
from the land they inhabit, and they manage that land so that it continues to sustain their lives and their children's lives. The
National Audubon Society's efforts are aimed so that no one is ever told it's "either them or the environment."
Facts:
· The National Audubon Society's average member is 49-years-old. The membership is evenly split between men and women.
They are of middle-income, and live all across the United States. Their defining characteristic is a love of outdoor recreation.
Audubon members hunt, fish, hike, walk, garden, take part in boating, and drive
SUVs.
· Like the membership, the Audubon board of directors is comprised of people from varied walks of life, and includes educators,
land managers, hunters and fisherman, Audubon chapter representatives, former government agency heads, oil company
executives, scientists, land managers, consultants and business leaders. The diversity of its membership and leadership is
reflected in how Audubon approaches protecting nature, which is with a sense of balance.
· The Audubon Society has a national reputation for excellence in environmental education. The organization is widely regarded as
the most moderate and believeable conservation group, largely because all its opinions and positions are based on sound, accepted
science and a desire to connect other Americans with nature.
· The Audubon Society does not rely on court cases to carry out its mission. It does not file lawsuits, which intend to strip
landowners of their property or limit their use of land.
· Audubon supports farmers and ranchers. We support the conservation measures in the US Farm bill that give farmers and
ranchers cash incentives to preserve habitat. Nationally, we support programs that make it profitable for farmers and ranchers to
create conservation easements on their land and along rivers. In many states, Audubon supports incentive programs that encourage
landowners to keep woodlots and practice forestry. Audubon acts on the belief that those who work the land are among the best
conservationists. Farmers, ranchers, and landowners keep open space healthy and productive: if they lose their land, then wildlife
suffers. Audubon supports all measures that would keep them in business and provide open space.
· Audubon does not endorse or support political candidates. As a not-for-profit organization, Audubon is prohibited by law from
doing so. In addition, Audubon believes taking such positions would be unneccessarily divisive, and so, the organization also
refuses to take positions for or against government appointees. Although this is allowed by law, Audubon believes taking such
positions would prevent the organization from being impartial and non-partisan, and would impair its ability to get work done.
Audubon has been teaching people about nature for a century. Through its donation, Ford supports Audubon's citizen science,
education and conservation programs that protect wildlife and engage children and adults in developing an understanding and
appreciation of nature that lasts throughout their lifetimes. Projects funded by Ford's grant include:
· BirdSource www.birdsource.org is a Web-based alliance of citizens and scientists working together to identify, track, and monitor
bird populations throughout the Americas. Created by Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it is a critical tool in maintaining
biodiversity while harnessing the potential of citizen science. The Ford Fund's donation will allow Audubon to upgrade BirdSource
technology while adding features that aid users in bird identification and information retrieval.
· Ford is the primary sponsor of the Great Backyard Bird Count. America's premier citizen science project, it relies on amateurs,
who observe and track bird populations in their neighborhoods every February. Ford's sponsorship will allow Audubon to build and
engage a network of more than 200,000 citizen scientists in the U.S. and Canada, who will monitor birds and key environmental
indicators in real time. Audubon will also introduce the Great Backyard Bird Count to ten countries in Latin America and extend
Christmas Bird Count participation there to include 10,000 more participants by 2005.
· Ford's support will allow Audubon to expand the reach of its Latin America-based Schoolyard Ecology program. Focusing on
capacity building and education, the program offers training workshops, materials and manuals filled with activities that teachers can
use to focus children's natural curiosity about their surroundings.
For the last century, Audubon has helped people enjoy the outdoors and appreciate nature through education and conservation. The
bird monitoring and environmental education programs Ford's grant supports are central to the Audubon's mission of finding ways for
people and nature to both prosper.
May 25, 2001
Dear Sirs
Do you really think that loggers, miners, farmers, ranchers and any
other individuals whose livelihoods and/ or recreation have been
curtailed or eliminated by environmental activists funded by you will
buy a Ford? Many of us can't afford to buy anything new since your
surrogates, the eco-radicals, have destroyed our income as well as our
families and futures. Regardless of whether we can afford them or not,
we will not be buying new Fords once the word gets out about your
corporate bias towards the greens. AND IT WILL.
Maybe you should consider equal contributions to offset the millions
spent on eco- terrorism. Worthy organizations would include:
Montanans for Multiple Use www.mtmultipleuse.org
Box 3050, Columbia Falls, MT 59912
Paragon Foundation www.paragonpowerhouse.org
Blue Ribbon Coalition www.sharetrails.org
Mountain States Legal Foundation www.mountainstateslegal.org
American Landrights Association www.landrights.org
We will be watching for an announcement about your new policy and
contributions in the near future. Until then we are Non-New Ford Customers.
Barbara and Clarence Hall