Nature Conservancy Rakes in Corporate Cash

In the first of three articles the Washington Post takes a long look at the Nature Conservancy, "the world's richest environmental group, amassing $3 billion in assets by pledging to save precious places. ... 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. ... 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. ... It is also the leading proponent of a brand of environmentalism that promotes compromise between conservation and corporate America."