We examine how firms allocate discretionary resources around local policy decisions in decentralized regulatory settings. Using protected-area governance, where implementation authority is dispersed across local organizations and public agencies, we study corporate charitable giving around proposals to downgrade, downsize, or degazette protected areas (PADDD). We find that firms with local operational exposure increase charitable giving in affected counties before PADDD decisions. The increase is concentrated in donations to nonprofits involved in local conservation implementation, funding, and community governance, and varies with the locus of protected-area authority. Greater pre-event donations by locally exposed firms are positively associated with PADDD success, subsequent establishment sales and employment, and lower local conservation spending. These findings identify corporate philanthropy as a nonmarket channel through which firms engage with local governance during the contestation of environmental regulation.
