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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: October 2007

Pro-hunting Nature Conservancy president quits

 

ARLINGTON, Va.--Steven J. McCormick, 56, president of The Nature Conservancy since December 2000, abruptly resigned on October 1, 2007, effective immediately. His successor has not been selected.

A 30-year Nature Conservancy employee, McCormick took over the national organization after his predecessor, John Sawhill, died from diabetes. While Nature Conservancy policies have always favored hunting, fishing, and trapping, McCormick --himself an avid hunter--moved TNC into closer alignment with hunting, fishing, and trapping advocacy organizations.

McCormick previously directed the Nature Conservancy of California for 16 years, presiding over the acquisition of Santa Cruz Island to become a part of Channel Island National Park and efforts to exterminate non-native animals on the island.

Washington Post staff writer Joe Stephens wrote that McCormick "had grown tired of traveling, especially after he recently became ill returning from Mongolia," and felt that "a new multi-year fundraising campaign will make the job even more demanding. He said he would like to remain in conservation, perhaps working on global warming," Stephens reported.

Stephens and David B. Ottaway in May 2003 published a multi-part exposé of Nature Conservancy mismanagement, mostly during Sawhill's tenure, that led to a Senate inquiry and board restructuring that strengthened McCormick's control of TNC.

Recalled Stephens, "The series described how TNC had logged forests and drilled for oil under the last native breeding ground of an endangered bird. It reported that the TNC governing and advisory boards had grown to include executives from corporations that paid millions of dollars in environment-related fines. It showed how TNC had engaged in deals with executives on its boards."

The world's largest conservation group, TNC has assets of more than $4.8 billion, with 3,500 employees. McCormick was paid approximately $400,000 a year.