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Acre for acre, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it would buy an amount of 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 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, including 312,000 acres in Maine alone.
It's the first time any U.S. corporation has pledged such an arrangement, according to Interior Department officials, who will help decide which places to conserve. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she hopes the deal becomes a model for other companies.
The action also helps Wal-Mart burnish its green credentials, just ahead of Earth Day. The company bought full-page ads in Tuesday's editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post and ads in about 20 other papers touting its new wildlife habitat program.
Wal-Mart has come under scrutiny over its labor practices and how its stores affect communities and competing retailers. Last month it paid a record $11 million to settle federal charges of employing hundreds of illegal immigrants.
With a quarter trillion dollars in annual sales, Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people at 3,600 U.S. stores and 1,570 stores internationally.
The foundation plans to raise $35 million to match the Wal-Mart money, but said it would start off by putting $8.8 million from Wal-Mart toward a $20.5 million project to conserve land in five locations:
--Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana: Buying privately owned land to expand the refuges by 40 percent to 6,098 acres.
--Sherfield Cave/Buffalo National River in Arkansas: Adding 1,226 acres of bat habitat.
--North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona: Buying two private ranches with 1,259 acres.
--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.
--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:
Wal-Mart: http://www.walmartfacts.com
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: http://www.nfwf.org
