Last month, the leader of an Eskimo village in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service claiming that the Alaska Wilderness League, which works to prevent oil drilling in the refuge, misrepresented itself to obtain nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax status. The complaint alleges that the AWL is a lobbying group masquerading as an educational organization. (The IRS caps how much 501(c)(3) organizations can spend on lobbying.) In its defense, the AWL says it conforms to all IRS regulations. The complaint seems to be part of a growing trend of attacking conservation organizations’ nonprofit status; this summer, the Frontiers of Freedom Institute, a pro-business think tank, asked the IRS to audit the Rainforest Action Network on similar grounds. Nonprofit status is critical to environmental organizations because it saves them millions in taxes, makes them eligible for foundation funding, and allows donors to give them tax-deductible contributions.
