I think it may be best to hear both sides of this before we start driving our Toyotas off a cliff. 
The following is Toyota's response:April 09, 2008
Toyota and the Audubon Society: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Dept.
As you probably know, Toyota places a good deal of importance on environmental education.
On March 31, we posted a blog item dealing with just this issue. The post was titled, "Toyota and the Audubon Society," and it told of a $20 million donation to the group’s educational efforts. You can read it by clicking here.
We were very clear about what this money will finance, so imagine our surprise that this involvement with the Audubon Society’s educational efforts has gotten otherwise even-keeled people stirred up. Here is a selection of the comments made to our post:
"Money Toyota is donating is being used against people who use their 4-wheel drive vehicles."
"I am disheartened by your contribution to the Audubon Society being used to help fund the closure of the beaches of the Outer Banks of NC."
"You people ought to stick to selling your cars & trucks and leave our beaches alone."
"Shame on you for donating that money to a lost cause."
The "lost cause" this final comment refers to, and the issue that has people so angry, apparently involves a suit against the National Park Service (NPS), filed on behalf of The Defenders of Wildlife and the National Audubon Society, for the NPS’s alleged failure to adopt regulations to manage beach driving at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina.
To those concerned about such legal and political issues, let me assure you, our involvement with the Audubon Society, and our donation, both are very specific. The Audubon Society may not use that money any way it wishes. Rather, it is compelled to spend it on nature centers, largely in the inner cities, that will create and offer environmental programs to young people.
These programs include:
Innovation Grants designed to fund up to 60 projects each year. These will use creative approaches and engage inner-city communities to make measurable progress toward local conservation goals;
Conservation Fellowships to train promising environmental leaders who can serve as role models in their communities, expert guides and organizers for engaging people in effective, compelling conservation action; and
Volunteer Days that will provide hands-on opportunities to address local environmental issues and problems and take part in restoration activities.
As for suggestions that we somehow oppose the sport of four-wheeling – well, we build and sell four-wheel-drive vehicles that have developed an enviable reputation in the four-wheeling community and many of us here are enthusiastic four-wheelers. Of course we’re in favor of responsible four-wheeling. That’s why we’ve been a long-time supporter of Tread Lightly!, a nonprofit organization designed to protect recreation access and opportunities in the outdoors.
So we say again: This donation will be used only to fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders and offer volunteer opportunities, not for lobbying or legal efforts.
We thought that you should know that.
- Mike Michels, Corporate Communications
