Panel appears divided over funding of preserve versus Canoe Evansville
By MARK WILSON Courier & Press staff writer
464-7417 or mwilson@evansville.net
February 12, 2006
Two Wesselman Nature Society board members have resigned because they believe
the organization is subsidizing the Canoe Evansville program and neglecting
care of the interpretive center at Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve.
They argue that the nonprofit group should balance its budget instead of
subsidizing programming with money from its cash reserves.
Wesselman Nature Society is the parent organization of the nature preserve,
Howell Wetlands and the Canoe Evansville program.
The 200-acre stand of virgin forest known as Wesselman Woods Nature
Preserve has existed as a uniquely protected urban
woodlands on Evansville's East Side for well over two decades.
While the woods and the building that houses the Nature Center
interpretive facility are owned by the city, the funding and operation
of the preserve have largely been left to the nonprofit organization.
The city pays for three of the staff salaries and some maintenance
and repairs, while the society pays for daily operations and an
office manager through fundraising, donations and grants. Like
many nonprofit organizations, the nature society subsists on thin budgets,
scraping to make ends meet through fundraising, donations and membership fees.
The resulting tensions over financial management have led to some important
disagreements about how to direct resources.
Roberta Harding was one of the board members who resigned. She said
she became active with the nature society again in November 2005
after having served as the group's president when it was first formed
in the early 1970s. When she resigned this time, her husband, Al Harding,
a retired CPA who had been a volunteer on the society's
finance and strategic planning committees, left with her.
"I rejoined because to me it was appalling (the appearance
of the Nature Center)," she said. However, she said she
left again after just a month on the board when it became
evident that other directors were unwilling to make the
Canoe Evansville program stand on its own. In January,
board member Charles Sorenson and his wife, Sharon Sorenson,
who had helped lead the society's strategic planning committee,
also left for the same reasons. Sorenson said he too had
originally become involved with the group's board because
of concern about the deteriorating condition of the nature
center and left for the same reasons as the Hardings.
"I thought that the board was financially irresponsible," Sorenson said.
They argue that the group should balance its budget and operate
within the means of its annual revenues. "Wesselman Nature
Society is using funds that could and should be used to
improve the Nature Center facilities and programs to
subsidize Canoe Evansville, basically a paddling club,"
Al Harding said.
Although the group has accrued a cash reserve, mostly through gifts,
it barely makes ends meet on its annual budgets, covering operational
deficits with payments from those reserves when necessary. In 2005,
the nature society board approved a budget with a $50,080 projected
deficit, although it actually ended the year $30,167 in the red.
Money from the nature society's more than $700,000 in cash reserves
was used to cover the spending gap. Likewise, cash reserves were
used to cover a nearly $3,500 spending gap in 2004.
It's a sacrifice that the society's directors have been willing
to reluctantly make to ensure that programming continues, said
John Wolk, president of the nature society board.
"There are no programs we have that are self-sufficient," he said.
Memberships in Wesselman Nature Society have been declining in
recent years and with it revenues from joiner's fees. More than
100 members dropped from the rolls between 2004 and 2005.
The decline of from 405 to 302 members meant $4,273 in lost revenues.
At the same time, Canoe Evansville's program revenues increased
greatly, jumping from $1,131 in 2004 to more than $9,500 in 2005
with another $9,920 donated specifically to the program. However,
it still was not enough to cover Canoe Evansville's $46,077 in
expenses for 2005, leaving a deficit of $26,570 to be made up by
Wesselman Nature Society.
A $12,000 donation earmarked for 2006 has helped drop the
deficit in Canoe Evansville's operating budget to just $4,248 this year.
"Where does it end?" Al Harding asked. "It has never met its
budget projections in the past."
While the Hardings and Sorensons said they believe Canoe
Evansville is a good program, they also said they believe
it is deflecting focus from the Nature Center.
Other board members say the issue isn't as black and white,
and that supporting programming such as Canoe Evansville and
other activities is a vital part of the group's mission.
"The income we achieve doesn't really cover the expenses.
I think it is important to use that money (the cash reserves)
to help further our mission and goals. A negative budget, while
nobody likes to see it, is probably going to happen,"
said board member Brian Townsend.
The society's mission statement, found on its Web site,
is "to preserve the natural resources in the Evansville
area, to provide environmental education and to promote the
enjoyment of those treasures."
The Sorensons and Hardings point out that the group's original
articles of incorporation, under the name Wesselman Park Nature
Center Society Inc., more tightly defined the organization's mission as:
"The purpose for which the corporation is formed is exclusively
for educational purposes and the protection of wildlife,
particularly with regard to the development and sustenance of
Wesselman Park Nature Center ..."
However, Wolk said that when the society publicly announced
its name change in April 2005, the board made a point of saying
that it was doing so because of its involvement with other urban
nature programs beyond the nature preserve borders. At the time,
Nature Preserve Director Alice Rademacher told the Courier &
Press that the group's involvement with the wetlands and
promoting an interest in caring for and preserving Pigeon
Creek would ultimately strengthen its ability to care for
the nature preserve and its mission.
Other board members said they believe that still holds true and
that they believe the program will soon stand on its own.
"It is a program worth keeping. I think I share the hopes of
everyone on the board that it will become more and more self-
supporting as time goes on," said Ron Keeping, a board member
and director of Industrial Development & Sales for Vectren.
"Budgets are a matter of looking at the value of all the
things we do with our money. We all feel like the nature
preserve is the crown jewel of Wesselman Nature Society,
but if our objective is nature education, then the nature
preserve is just one way to reach our target audience."
Keeping likened the nature society's various programs,
including Canoe Evansville, as ways of reaching
different market segments.
Wesselman Nature Society's strategic planning committee
should have a draft proposal for upgrades to the Nature
Center in March, Wolk said.