Ron Arnold: Tracking Green

Dogwood Initiative (Canadian organization supported primarily by U.S. foundations)
 1422 Fernwood Rd. Suite 1
Victoria, BC, Canada www.dogwoodinitiative.org
Phone: (250) 370-9930
Email contact: whorter@dogwoodinitiative.org
Conceived: 1998 Began operating: 1999

Self-description: We help communities and First Nations gain more control of the land and resources around them so they can be managed in a way that does not rob future generations for short-term corporate gain. This sounds simple, but to the corporate executives and bureaucrats who control most of BC's public land, community control--sustainable land reform--is a ground-shaking idea.

Actual: DI is an early Canadian organizer of the NoDOG cluster, prompted by a $3,000 grant from U.S. software multimillionaire Paul Brainerd's foundation in 2004, with a directive to team with a U.S. group, the Oil and Gas Accountability Project.

Dogwood Initiative, Victoria, British Columbia - 2004: $3,000 To fund a face-to-face strategy meeting of Canadian energy activists to develop a framework for a markets campaign.

Oil and Gas Accountability Project, Durango, Colorado - 2004: $2,000 To fund a workshop to train activists in Canada and the U.S. and to develop a corporate accountability campaign targeting one energy corporation that operates in both countries.

In September, 2004 the two co-hosted the workshop, titled Corporate Energy Campaigning: Using financial pressure for conservation in Denver. Read the Dogwood Initiative newsletter about the first coalition meeting. See Page 9. Adobe Acrobat PDF file (258k)......To Read More....