The Conservation Alliance will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year by hosting two events during the 2014 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. The organization, which was founded in 1989 by Patagonia, Kelty, The North Face and REI, now comprises more than 180 outdoor industry member companies that work together to protect North America’s wild places.
“Twenty-five years ago, four companies came together around a shared belief that the outdoor industry needed to do more to protect wild places for their habitat and recreation values,” said Conservation Alliance Executive Director John Sterling. “In August, we will celebrate that vision and 25 years worth of conservation success.”
The Conservation Alliance anniversary party will include music from the Infamous Stringdusters as well as food, beverages and some creative and unique displays of the work the Alliance has accomplished over the past 25 years. The party will be Thursday, Aug. 7, from 6:00-10:00 p.m. at The Lot (115 S. West Temple), directly across the street from the main entrance of the Salt Palace.
The Infamous Stringdusters are among the top bluegrass bands in the nation. The New York Times says: “[The Infamous Stringdusters’] toe-tapping rhythms, torrents of 16th notes and the contours of Appalachian melodies are their clear foundations. But genre doesn’t hold them back. What sounds casual and good-timey is intricately plotted and arranged, attentive to the textures of each voice and string. The Infamous Stringdusters don’t leave bluegrass behind; they’re stretching it from within.”
The Conservation Alliance breakfast also will honor and commemorate the 25th anniversary. The breakfast is Thursday, Aug. 7 from 7:00-8:30 a.m. at the Marriott Hotel, Salons F-I. The featured speaker is Gary Ferguson, who will make a special presentation about Wilderness on the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Ferguson will explore the legacy of The Wilderness Act, and the recreation, therapeutic, and habitat values of wild places.
Ferguson is an acclaimed author whose books and articles explore the relationship of people to wild places. In addition to publishing 22 books, Ferguson lectures frequently for universities and conservation groups and has spoken for the National Geographic Lecture Series.
Since its inception in 1989, the Alliance has contributed more than $13 million to grassroots conservation groups. Alliance funding has helped save more than 42 million acres of wildlands; protect 2,748 miles of rivers; stop or remove 25 dams; designate five marine reserves; and purchase nine climbing areas.
