Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · United States · 1995–2014

Nature Conservancy gas drilling on Texas City Prairie Preserve

Nature's voice · report
I was the last place in the wild where Attwater's prairie chickens bred. About 36 of them nested on me in 1998; the estimate afterwards was 16.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • Pipeline work on me continued until November, past the end-of-July cut-off set to protect the nesting birds. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
  • According to the New York Times, after the 2007 well the prairie chickens disappeared from me.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Did the pipeline work put the birds at risk?
Did TNC end drilling on the land?
  • Company or project TNC: Announced that it was banning new drilling, then allowed a new oil well in 2007 citing an existing contract.
  • Press and investigations New York Times (as cited in the sources reviewed): TNC earned millions of dollars in oil and gas income from the land and the prairie chickens disappeared from it.

The Nature Conservancy drilled for gas on a Texas prairie that Mobil Oil had donated in 1995 and that was the last wild breeding area of the endangered Attwater's prairie chicken. The Washington Post reported in 2003 that the well earned about $8 million by January 2002 while the number of nesting birds fell.

about $8 million vs $5.6 millionGas-well income to January 2002 vs TNC's net payment in the settlement
As reported by the Washington Post, 6 May 2003. Figures are as stated in the report; this site makes no calculation.

Status As of the 2007 well: the $10 million settlement had closed the litigation over the mineral-rights purchase, and TNC had allowed a new oil well on the land under an existing contract.

What?
The Nature Conservancy drilled for gas on Texas City Prairie Preserve, the last wild breeding area of the Attwater's prairie chicken; pipeline work ran past its own nesting cut-off, and in 2007 it allowed a new oil well on the land. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
Where?
Texas City Prairie Preserve, near Texas City, Texas. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
When?
Donation 1995; drilling from 1999; report 6 May 2003; new oil well 2007. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
Who?
Gained
Lost
Harmed
  • Attwater's prairie chicken — Nesting birds fell from 36 in 1998 to an estimated 16; according to the New York Times the birds disappeared from the land after the 2007 well. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
Why?
The Washington Post reported that the well earned about $8 million by January 2002; the sources reviewed does not give TNC's stated reason for drilling other than an existing contract for the 2007 well. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
How?
Gas drilling and pipeline construction on donated conservation land, extending under a mineral right bought by an oilman without disclosing TNC's name. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

In 1995 Mobil Oil donated a prairie of about 2,300 acres (about 930 hectares) in Texas to The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The land was the last breeding area in the wild of the endangered Attwater's prairie chicken.

TNC began gas drilling on the land in 1999. Pipeline construction ran past TNC's own end-of-July cut-off, set to protect the birds, and continued until November. By January 2002 the well had earned about $8 million. The number of nesting birds fell from 36 in 1998 to an estimated 16. In a 2002 internal analysis TNC's Texas science director wrote that the delays raised the likelihood of the birds' death (the sources reviewed give this as a Turkish rendering; the original wording is not reproduced).

The drilling extended beneath a mineral right owned by the Russell Sage Foundation. A Houston oilman bid $26,176 for the right without disclosing TNC's name. The dispute ended with a $10 million settlement; TNC said it paid $5.6 million after insurance and partner contributions. TNC's president described what had happened as a mistake. The Washington Post reported these facts on 6 May 2003; the Los Angeles Times had first reported the drilling in 2002.

TNC later announced that it was banning new drilling, but in 2007 it allowed a new oil well on the same land, citing an existing contract. According to the New York Times, TNC earned millions of dollars in oil and gas income from the land and the prairie chickens disappeared from it.

  1. 1995Mobil Oil donates about 2,300 acres of Texas prairie to TNC
  2. 199836 nesting Attwater's prairie chickens on the land
  3. 1999TNC begins gas drilling on the land
  4. 2002January: well income reaches about $8 million. TNC's Texas science director writes an internal analysis on the delays. The Los Angeles Times first reports the drilling.
  5. 20036 May: Washington Post report on the drilling. The Senate Finance Committee begins a wider investigation of TNC (2003–2005).
  6. 2007TNC allows a new oil well on the same land under an existing contract

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Did the pipeline work put the birds at risk?
Press and investigations
Washington Post

Pipeline construction ran past TNC's own end-of-July cut-off, and a 2002 internal analysis said the delays raised the likelihood of the birds' death.

Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
Company or project
TNC (president)

Described what had happened as a mistake.

Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
Did TNC end drilling on the land?
Company or project
TNC

Announced that it was banning new drilling, then allowed a new oil well in 2007 citing an existing contract.

Press and investigations
New York Times (as cited in the sources reviewed)

TNC earned millions of dollars in oil and gas income from the land and the prairie chickens disappeared from it.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Mobil Oil donated the prairie in 1995; the land was the last wild breeding area of the endangered Attwater's prairie chicken.
    Washington Post, 6 May 2003 · Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
  • TNC later announced that it was banning new drilling.
    The Nature Conservancy (as stated in the sources reviewed)

Recorded

  • Pipeline construction ran past TNC's own end-of-July cut-off and continued until November.
    Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
  • The well earned about $8 million by January 2002; the number of nesting birds fell from 36 in 1998 to an estimated 16.
    Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
  • A 2002 internal analysis by TNC's Texas science director said the delays raised the likelihood of the birds' death.
    Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
  • TNC said it paid $5.6 million of a $10 million settlement after insurance and partner contributions.
    Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
  • In 2007 TNC allowed a new oil well on the same land under an existing contract; according to the New York Times it earned millions of dollars in oil and gas income there and the prairie chickens disappeared from the land.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Gas-well income to January 2002≈ $8m
Settlement, total$10m
TNC net payment after insurance and partner contributions$5.6m
Currency: USD · Window: 1999–2003. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • tnc (2003): Its president described what had happened as a mistake; TNC said it paid $5.6 million of the $10 million settlement after insurance and partner contributions, and later announced it was banning new drilling. · Washington Post / Seattle Times archive
  • tnc (2007): Allowed a new oil well on the same land in 2007, citing an existing contract.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. Settled$10000bn Total settlement; TNC said its net payment was $5.6 million
    Mineral-rights dispute over the Texas City Prairie Preserve well
    not on record · Civil · → The Nature Conservancy

    The drilling extended beneath a mineral right owned by the Russell Sage Foundation, which a Houston oilman had bid $26,176 for without disclosing TNC's name. The litigation closed with a $10 million settlement. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive

Insurers

  1. No policy found
    Not named in the sources reviewed → The Nature Conservancy

    TNC said its net payment of $5.6 million was after insurance and partner contributions to the $10 million settlement; the insurer's amount is not given. Washington Post / Seattle Times archive

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Nesting Attwater's prairie chickens
36 to an estimated 16
From 1998; end year of the estimate not stated
Prairie chickens on the land after the 2007 well
Disappeared
As reported by the New York Times, per the sources reviewed

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Disputed Did the pipeline work put the birds at risk?
  • Disputed Did TNC end drilling on the land?

Insurers

  • Unclear Not named in the sources reviewed: no decision on record.

Record

  • None on record No executive is recorded as having been tried personally.
  • None on record The year to which the estimate of 16 nesting birds applies is not stated.

Did the harm stop?

Pipeline work ran past TNC's own end-of-July nesting cut-off. TNC later announced it was banning new drilling and then allowed a new oil well in 2007 under an existing contract.

Who paid?

TNC said it paid $5.6 million of the $10 million settlement after insurance and partner contributions; the sources reviewed give the cost was borne by TNC's donations, the insurer and partners.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Press and investigations

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Places and local terms

Conservancy (Kenya)
In Kenya, land managed by a community or private owners for wildlife alongside grazing, often with outside partners.

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Bonds and banking

Guarantee
A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.
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