According to the Capital Research Center, some foundations have funded environmental campaigns for wilderness, limited timber harvests and mining, breaching dams and federal ecosystem planning. An example of this type of activity is the Heritage Forests Campaign, a coalition whose sole purpose appears to be lobbying the Clinton-Gore Administration on the Roadless Initiative, which would withdraw up to 60 million acres of National Forest lands from multiple use, prohibiting timber harvests, mining, oil and gas production and many forms of recreation. This coalition includes the National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, The Wilderness Society, Oregon Natural Resources Council, American Lands Alliance, US Public Interest Group, National Environmental Trust, Alaska Rainforest Campaign, Southwest Forest Alliance, Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign and Forest Water Alliance. Representatives from foundations funding these campaigns were invited to appear before the Committee but declined to do so.
Private foundations are peculiar creations of public law.
Their assets are tax-exempt. Contributions to them are tax-deductible. They are often established in order to avoid estate taxes. The government gives a foundation these privileges with the expectation that its trustees will respect the intentions of the donor who established it, and that those intentions are benevolent and charitable. The Northern Forest Alliance doesn't care if almost 10,000 pulp and paper workers lose their jobs.