Western Values Project (WVP)
Western Values Project was a left-of-center advocacy project involved in public lands and environmentalist advocacy. It was a project of the New Venture Fund, a charitable arm of Arabella Advisors’ left-of-center advocacy network. 1 The organization had a 501(c)(4) sister organization, Western Values Project Action (WVPA), that was a project associated with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-of-center funding and fiscal sponsorship organization managed by the Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Arabella Advisors. 2
Contents
However, as of January 2020, Accountable.US (a former New Venture Fund project) has claimed control of Western Values Project. In 2020, Accountable.US noted that it was “in the process of transitioning from the New Venture Fund” into a standalone nonprofit; it has since become an independent nonprofit. 3
From the archived page:
Accountable.US is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides fiscal sponsorship and project hosting for various public interest campaigns. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Contributions to Accountable.US may appear as New Venture Fund on your bank or credit card statement. EIN 20-5806345
Accountable.US is in the process of transitioning from New Venture Fund and expects to be able to accept donations as an independent 501(c)(3) entity in the near future.[/note]
Background
The Western Values Project was founded in 2013 with one employee. By 2019, the group expanded to include seven staffers in Montana and Washington, D.C.. 4
First Trump Administration
The Western Values Project claimed credit for the resignation of Trump administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in January 2019. The group had attacked Zinke over his ties to the oil-drilling and mining industries and had accused him of ethical lapses. 4
Western Values Project runsran the website DavidBernhardt.org, a website set up to attack David Bernhardt, President Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Interior from 2019 to 2021 and Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 2017 to 2019. The website accused Bernhardt of being the “ultimate DC swamp creature” and rolling back environmental regulations. 4
In October 2020, the Western Values Project commemorated “Indigenous Peoples Day” by attacking the Trump administration as racist. In a statement, Western Values project director Jayson O’Neill said:
The racism and hate spewed by the Trump administration is truly disgusting. On a day we should celebrate Indigenous people, it is hard to ignore the extreme bigotry of William Pendley, and how Trump’s Interior Department has embraced it. . . With Assistant Secretary Tara Sweeney under investigation for her role in mishandling CARES Act money meant for Native American tribal governments in an attempt to benefit her husband and former employer on top of continued roll backs of numerous environmental and public land protections to the detriment of Indigenous peoples and their lands, Trump’s administration has been a reign of true terror. 5
In October 2020, the Western Values Project attacked U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) for allegedly sympathizing with militia groups by holding a copy of and guide to the U.S. Constitution compiled by Paul Skousen known as the “Skousen Constitution” during a hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. The Skousen Constitution is allegedly popular with militia groups and other anti-government activists. In a statement, O’Neill said:
If it wasn’t already dangerous enough to have a COVID positive and maskless Senator Lee spouting his warped legal views in this kangaroo hearing for one of the most critical seats on the highest court in generations, the Utah Senator also decided to give a clear signal to all the domestic terrorist militia members across the country when he brandished their twisted version of our Constitution. . . More concerning is that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett alluded to this bastardized pocket version of our Constitution in a recent speaking engagement. 6
In October 2020, the Western Values Project opposed the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. The group accused Barrett of siding with businesses 76 percent of the time and claimed that she had troubling ties to oil companies. The group accused Barrett of likely supporting a ruling which would loosen restrictions on methane emissions, which the group called an activist ruling. In a statement, O’Neill said:
This is just the type of pro-corporate judicial activism we can expect from Amy Coney Barrett if she is confirmed. An overwhelming majority of the time, Barrett rules in favor of wealthy corporate interests over the health, safety, and pocketbooks of American families. The wildfires ravaging the West and the hurricanes pummeling our coasts are just small symptoms of the worsening climate crisis. We can no longer ignore the negative and devastating impact of climate change on our public lands, public health, and livelihoods. 7
In October 2020, the Western Values Project criticized oil and mining companies for their lack of racial diversity. The group cited data from the Paycheck Protection Program, which it called flawed, that claimed that less than one percent of the extractive resource corporations were owned by nonwhites or women. In a statement, Western Values Project deputy press secretary Aliyah Rich said:
The same Big Oil and extractive corporations owned by wealthy white men who are fueling Trump’s re-election campaign siphoned off relief funds meant for struggling small businesses while Black and minority neighborhoods bore the brunt of front-line impacts from the sector’s toxic pollution. The Trump administration’s failed pandemic response has only exacerbated the situation. . .The extractive resource sector has a serious lack of diversity in leadership positions and is overwhelmingly dominated by white men, leaving little to no room to make informed decisions about the marginalized communities these companies overwhelmingly harm with their activities.
The group attacked oil companies for disproportionately harming nonwhites. 8
Dark Money Ties
The Western Values Project is a former project of the New Venture Fund. The New Venture Fund was administered by the for-profit Arabella Advisors. The New Venture Fund was a part of the Arabella Advisors’ “dark money” network which allows donors to donate money anonymously. 9
In January 2020, the Western Values Project joined with Allied Progress and Restore Public Trust to form Accountable.US. The three groups shared a senior advisor at the time, Kyle Herrig, who became the first president of Accountable.US. Herrig is a former director of the New Venture Fund. 9
The group claimed that its decision to engage in donor secrecy was a strategic decision the group had made to protect benefactors from the blowback its work can trigger in a highly politicized culture. 4
Leadership
Chris Saeger is a former executive director of the group. Before joining the group as its executive director in 2014, he was the communications director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Democratic Party. Saeger left the group in 2019 and became the director of strategic initiatives for Accountable.US where he stayed until 2021. Saeger then became a freelance communications consultant for left-of-center candidates and causes. 10
As of 2021, Jayson O’Neill replaced Saeger as the director of the group. Before joining the group, O’Neill worked in communications for Democratic candidates and worked in different roles in the Montana state government. After leaving the group in 2021, O’Neill went to work as a communications consultant and established the Save Our Parks campaign. 11
Former members of the board include Jason Keith, who was a lobbyist for a recreational rock-climbing group, and Max Trujillo, a New Mexico real estate developer. 4