Wal-Mart Moves to Greenwash Its Anti-Environmental Image

From Grist Magazine
<www.grist.org March 13, 2005

You Won't Find a Lower-Priced Greenwash -- We Guarantee!

Wal-Mart pledges to buy and preserve land to compensate for footprint Retail leviathan Wal-Mart, stung by a spate of bad press accusing it of sprawling consumption of open spaces, excessive storm-water runoff at construction sites, discrimination against women, employment of illegal immigrants, ruthless price-cutting strategies that drive jobs abroad, and shabby treatment of employees ... er, "associates" (did we miss anything?), has launched a campaign it hopes will burnish its tainted image. The company pledged yesterday to buy and preserve enough land to compensate for the acreage lost to its stores, parking lots, and distribution centers for the next 10 years -- and trumpeted its pledge in full-page ads in at least 20 newspapers. The land will be purchased through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit conservation organization created by Congress in 1984. Wal-Mart said it will spend $35 million on its "Acres for America" program -- roughly 0.014 percent of its quarter-trillion annual sales. straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Associated Press, 13 Apr 2005 straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, Beth DeFalco, 13 Apr 2005

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From: www.sfgate.com

Land Near Grand Canyon to Be Protected
- By BETH DeFALCO, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 13, 2005

(04-13) 18:22 PDT PHOENIX (AP) --

Bolstered by a $1 million grant from retail giant Wal-Mart, conservation groups plan to protect almost 900,000 acres of wilderness, including land stretching along 125 miles of the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

Conservationists said the $4.5 million purchase of two private ranches, totaling about 1,000 acres, also will help protect more than 850,000 acres that are attached to the land through grazing permits from the North Rim to the Utah line.

The acquisition connects three national monuments, two national recreation areas and eight wilderness areas, shielding them from further development and restoring overgrazed lands to nurture endangered species in the region. "That's the beauty of this deal," said Richard Mayol, a spokesman for the Flagstaff-based Grand Canyon Trust, which will manage the land.

Mayol said the purchase was long desired by conservationists but was becoming increasingly crucial as development moved closer from St. George, Utah, and the Arizona Strip, the northernmost part of the state cut off by the Grand Canyon. The trust placed a deposit on the land, giving it until July to officially purchase.

"We felt if didn't move on this now, the land could be subdivided into miniparcels or sold to developers," Mayol said.

The Conservation Fund helped solidify the deal using a grant from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s "Acres for America," a program launched Tuesday in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Wal-Mart pledged $35 million to buy land equal to all the land its stores, parking lots and distribution centers use over the next 10 years. That would conserve at least 138,000 acres in the United States as "priority" wildlife habitat.

"The ultimate purpose is to create a grazing and restoration plan for the West," said Larry Selzer, president of The Conservation Fund, based in Arlington, Va. "No other company has stepped forward with that type of a bold initiative."

The money will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a private nonprofit group created by Congress in 1984 to leverage federal dollars for conservation projects.

The Arizona project comprises the Kane and Two Mile ranches. They include desert areas in Marble Canyon; pinon-juniper forests surrounding the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, where dozens of endangered California condors have been released into the wild; and spruce-fir in the higher reaches of Kaibab National Forest.

The area is also home to the Kaibab squirrel and Apache trout, Mayol said. Besides the Grand Canyon acquisition, the first stage of the Wal-Mart program will include: _ Squaw Creek in Oregon: Buying a conservation easement on a private ranch to protect 1,120 acres along a tributary of the Deschutes River to aid salmon and steelhead fish populations. _ Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana: Buying privately owned land to expand the refuge by 40 percent to 6,098 acres. _ Sherfield Cave/Buffalo National River in Arkansas: Adding 1,226 acres of bat habitat. _ Downeast Lakes region of Maine: Protecting 312,000 acres around Washington County, including 54 lakes and 1,500 miles of river and stream shoreline.

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On the Net:

The Conservation Fund:

Grand Canyon Trust:

Wal-Mart Acres for America:

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation:

www.conservationfund.org

www.grandcanyontrust.org

www.walmartfacts.com

www.nfwf.org

URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/04/13/national/a014157D
58.DTL ©2005 Associated Press