Wildlife nonprofit endangered Utah state money
Topline: A Utah nonprofit tasked with ending federal protections for the gray wolf species allegedly used state funds to pay companies owned by its founder and his family, according to an investigation by the Salt Lake Tribune.
Key facts: Plenty of advocacy groups work to protect wildlife species from extinction. Big Game Forever has a different, possibly more controversial goal: convincing the federal government to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act, which provides habitat protection and recovery efforts for animals on the list.
Utah has sent $5.1 million to Big Game Forever since 2011. State Sen. Allen Christensen led the effort, arguing that wolves are a “cancer” that threaten farms and other animals.
For years, the names of subcontractors hired by Big Game Forever were redacted from public records. A financial document obtained by the Utah Investigative Journalism Project revealed a likely reason for the secrecy: the nonprofit was hiring its own founder Ryan Benson and his brother, Jon, as subcontractors.
Big Game Forever used state funds to hire Jon Benson’s Stoneworth Consulting for 2,163 hours of work between 2018 and 2020, mostly for “public outreach” and “administrative” tasks, The Tribune found. That amounted to 20 percent of the hours Big Game Forever logged for outreach, a $1.3 million expense.
Ryan Benson’s Stag Consulting was paid for 2,795 hours, mostly for “legal work.”
The nonprofit also hired Hartley & Associates for 652 hours of “legislative work,” the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The company’s founder co-owns a separate business with Ryan Benson.
Thankfully, the state appears to have learned its lesson. The Utah legislature hasn’t contracted with Big Game Forever since 2020 and promised not to spend more on anti-wolf lobbying until ongoing audits of past spending are completed.
The Trump administration removed gray wolves as an endangered species in 2020, but they were added again following a court order in 2022.
Summary: Perhaps Utah should be less focused on changing federal regulations until they can take care of fiscal mismanagement in their own state.
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