Center for Wildlife Studies

“Laura Hopkins is the Spouse of President:Laura Hopkins has provided legal services, initially pro-bono and subsequently at a reduced fee to CWS. The decision to retain Laura's services in this capacity was assessed by the board (President recused) and determined that it was to the benefit of CWS on the basis that i) The hourly rate was discounted from the usual rate and substantially lower than even the introductory rate offered by a local non-profit attorney.Acadia Wildlife Services (AWS) is a wildlife veterinary services firm, wholly owned by a director of CWS (Tristan Burgess). Though some work may be performed by AWS that is of a similar nature to some programs of CWS, the two are managed as entirely distinct entities. No cooperative activities have occurred or are planned, but any future cooperation between the two entities shall be governed by the Conflict of Interest Policy to ensure that such cooperation is strictly to the benefit of CWS and does not create excess benefit to AWS or its owner. Under no circumstances shall individuals or organizations approaching CWS for a service be referred to, or steered toward AWS instead, unless the third party is seeking a service that CWS is unable to provide (e.g. a commercial service that is considered not to be in the interest of CWSs mission).”

“Completed form 990 is provided to the board. All board members must provide written approval to file.”

“Questionnaire must be filed at least annually and all board members and executive are required to update this questionnaire if any informational changes.”

“Executive compensation is determined by a compensation committee - chaired by the Board Treasurer, and composed of no fewer than 3 Board members. No member of the executive may sit on the compensation committee. The compensation committee continues to consult the Maine Nonprofit Compensation Report to obtain comparable data on salaries paid by other similar organizations.”

“No documents available to the public.”