The Conservation Alliance will hold its eighth and final Backyard Collective of 2011 on Thursday, Sept. 29 in Bend, Ore.


The Conservation Alliance is partnering with grantee Deschutes Land Trust to organize a day of forest restoration in the 1,240-acre Metolius Preserve, working toward the trust’s long-term goal of restoring the forest’s old-growth ponderosa pine stands and encouraging new pine regeneration. Forty volunteers are expected to turn out, with employee representation from sponsoring companies, including: Ruff Wear, Inc., QuickFeat, FootZone of Bend, GearTribe, and REI.  Local non-profits, The Deschutes Land Trust, Oregon Natural Desert Association, and 1000 Friends of Oregon will be participating in a lunchtime grantee education fair, which will bring Alliance members and volunteers up to date on the conservation efforts and plans of the organization and its partners.

The event will be held on Thursday, September 29th at 8:45 a.m. Volunteers will be provided with water bottles from Stanley, a brand of PMI, and Icebreaker merino wool t-shirts.  The work session will be followed by a catered lunch from Bleu Bite Catering and grantee education fair beginning at 11:30 a.m.



The Conservation Alliance is a group of outdoor industry companies that fund conservation organizations. The Alliance launched the Backyard Collective Program in August 2008 to connect individuals in the outdoor industry with the work of organizations that receive financial support from the group.  The Backyard Collective moves that action to the field, and gives people a venue to get their “hands dirty” for the sake of conservation.