The Conservation Alliance approved grants totaling $400,000 to 15 organizations working to protect wild places throughout North America. The donations marked the Alliance’s first funding disbursal for 2009, bring total giving to more than $7.4 million since the organization’s founding in 1989.


By a vote of the group’s 165 member companies, The Conservation Alliance approved donations to 15 grassroots conservation organizations as follows:


Organization (Location) Amount
American Whitewater (Cullowhee, NC) $25,000
Arizona Wilderness Coalition (Tucson, AZ) $30,000
California Trout (San Francisco, CA) $25,000
Colorado Mountain Club (Golden, CO) $21,000
Conservation Northwest (Bellingham, WA) $25,000
CRAG Vermont (Richmond, VT) $24,000
Friends of the River (Sacramento, CA) $30,000
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (Ashland, OR) $20,000
New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (Albuquerque, NM) $35,000
Pacific Rivers Council (Portland, OR) $30,000
Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter (Victoria, BC) $35,000
Washington Wilderness Coalition (Seattle, WA) $20,000
Western Environmental Law Center (Eugene, OR) $30,000
Western Rivers Conservancy (Portland, OR) $30,000
Wyoming Outdoor Council (Lander, WY) $20,000
TOTAL $400,000


“Our membership has taken a strong stand that, despite the challenging economy, now is the time to invest in conservation,” said John Sterling, executive director of The Conservation Alliance. “Each of these grants is likely to bear fruit in the near future, to the benefit of the outdoor industry and our customers.”

This round of grant recipients reflects the geographic distribution of Conservation Alliance members. Conservation Alliance funds will support efforts to: secure new wilderness designations in Washington, New Mexico, and Arizona; protect wild rivers in Oregon, Washington, California, and Montana; purchase a climbing area in Vermont; halt oil and gas leases on public land in Wyoming; and expand a national park in British Columbia.


Each project was first nominated for funding by a Conservation Alliance member company.


“Each of these grants is an investment in the future of the industry,” said Sterling. “Outdoor product users need wild places, and through The Conservation Alliance, our industry is doing its part to save those places.”