amg@cs.cmu.edu (Ann Marie Grizzaffi Maynard) (03/27/91)
Hi, I'm looking for general information on the following two wildlife societies, (or a pointer to a more appropriate bb to ask this question): The Wilderness Society Defenders of Wildlife. Sprint has a program that will donate some percentage of the $$ you send them for telephone service to any one of a list of charitable organizations. I need help deciding on the above two. I'd like to know what the purpose of the above organization are and if there's anything else i should know about them before I pick up a dart and just choose one. I've tried my local zoo, but no one ever calls me back, or I get connected with people who don't know anything. I've tried the 1-800 operator to see if there was a 1-800 on either of the two. I don't have time to take time off and go searching through my public library, so this is my last stab and then I go for the darts... Thanks for the info or the pointers!! Ann Marie Maynard
sid@jato.jpl.nasa.gov (Sid Johnson WB6VWH) (03/29/91)
In article <1991Mar27.154301.29289@cs.cmu.edu> amg@cs.cmu.edu (Ann Marie Grizzaffi Maynard) writes: >Hi, > >I'm looking for general information on the following two wildlife >societies, (or a pointer to a more appropriate bb to ask this question): > > The Wilderness Society > Defenders of Wildlife. > >Sprint has a program that will donate some percentage of the $$ you send >them for telephone service to any one of a list of charitable organizations. >I need help deciding on the above two. > >Thanks for the info or the pointers!! > >Ann Marie Maynard From the Sept 90 issue of Outside DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE: A group of old fasshioned Rpcky Mountain types who like animals with teeth, not just ones with cuddly faces. Of all the wildlife groups, Defenders has stayed slosest to its original purpose: to protect species and habitat. It remains lean and focused, attracting former membersof Audubon and National Wildlife Federation who are turned off by teir groups' Nouvea globalism. Though it maintains a much lower profile than in the 1970s, Defenders is still strong inthe west, where its advocacy of wolf reintoduction is teaching it to make friends with livestock owners. Other pet projects include restoring the Everglades and establishing wildlife corridors so animals can migrate without meeting roads or fences. Internal conglicts persist over whether to expand into bigger issues TYPICAL MEMBER: A bearded, middle-aged man who likes following game trails through the under brush, wearing knobby Vibrams and no underear. WHAT THEY DONT TELL YOU: The staff has a reputation as prima donns, beleiving that the president should concentrate on fund-raising, not policy WHERE THE MONEY GOES: Programs 66%, Overhead 34% THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY With its staff of Washington savvy politicos who can influence votes on the black-tie circuit, the society seeks to iinfluence the management of federal lands,period. With no chapters to eat up the budget or tie up policy decisions in democracy, the society gas a depth that the sierra club and others cant match, sendfing its land-planners to obscure fores service proceedings and its lobbyists to the big congressional debates. In fact, its devotion to Washington's waays drove Earth First founder Dave Foreman into the desert. Trouble is, critics say, the group tends to lean heavily on old, outdated statues. The society was for a long time a hard-line backpacker advocacy group. Since 1980, it has gradually become mere cerebral and conservative, no doubt to the approval of its growing roster of corporat sponsors and to the chagrin of longtime staffers, some of whom complain that the leadership takes little notice of the little people. Posh office is decorated with 68 Ansel Adams originals, 62 more than the Sierra Club has. TYPICAL MEMBER: Summers in Nantucket, votes for Teddy Kennedy at every opportunity. WHERE THE MONEY GOES: Programs 75%, overhead 25% WHAT THEY DONT TELL YOU: The 1988-1989 membership drive boosted the ranks by 35% but at a price: The society ran more than $1 million in the red. There is more, but I think that should give you the idea. -Sid