The Habitat Conservation Trust wants to know what happened to money it gave The Land Conservancy to buy and preserve ecologically important properties around B.C.
TLC received money for its conservation efforts but Habitat has since learned the TLC does not own at least four of the parcels, said Brian Springinotic, chief executive officer of the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, which manages the trust.
The parcels are part of what’s known as the “Horsefly Riparian” lands in central B.C. and the Wycliffe Wildlife Corridor near Kimberley.
Since 1998, TLC has received more than $2 million from the trust to help it acquire 12 properties, consisting of more than 40 individual parcels. The amount given to TLC for conservation of the four parcels in question is “six figures,” but Springinotic could not be more specific.
“Habitat [the foundation] has recently discovered that a number of properties which the Trust contributed funding for the TLC to acquire, appear not to have been acquired by the TLC, and are presently owned by other parties,” Springinotic said in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court of B.C. in Vancouver.
“In the event that the purchase did not proceed, TLC agreed … to return the funds advanced to the trust.”
The foundation’s lawyer aired the concerns in court last week.
Springinotic said that while TLC proposals on a given property would list the individual parcels, they did not apportion specific budget amounts to particular parcels. If the foundation liked a proposal, it would provide a grant. That money was not dedicated to a specific parcel, he said.
TLC’s new manager, John Shields, brought in to help sort out its organizational and financial difficulties, said the group is looking into the foundation’s concern.
TLC went into creditor protection last month because it owes $7.5 million in debt.
The non-profit used mortgages on its land, a practice that is not common among land trusts, and used money from restricted funds on other parts of the organizations. It holds 50 properties with 250 covenants on them around B.C.
Funding for the Habitat Conservation Trust, established by the province, comes mainly from licensing fees from anglers, hunters, guide-outfitters and trappers in B.C. Since 1981, it has spent in excess of $140 million on more than 2,500 projects.
