The Conservation Alliance sent checks totaling $250,000 to ten organizations working to protect wild places throughout North America. The donations marked the Alliances final disbursal of funding for 2006, and brought the years contributions to a new high of $530,000.
By a vote of the groups 120 member companies, The Conservation Alliance
made donations to ten grassroots conservation organizations as follows:
1. Alaska Wilderness League (Washington, DC)
$30,000
2. Greater Yellowstone Coalition (Bozeman, MT)
$30,000
3. Carolina Climbers Coalition (Spartanburg, SC)
$30,000
4. Northeast Wilderness Trust (Boston, MA)
$30,000
5. Colorado Environmental Coaltion (Denver, CO) $25,000
6. American Whitewater (Cullowhee, NC)
$20,000
7. Deschutes Basin Land Trust (Bend, OR)
$25,000
8. Nevada Wilderness Project (Reno, NV)
$20,000
9. Forest Guardians (Santa FE, NM)
$20,000
10. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (Ottawa, ON) $20,000
Total
$250,000
“Through The Conservation Alliance, our member companies are supporting the
most effective conservation organizations in the US,” said Conservation
Alliance Executive Director John Sterling. “Weve already celebrated several
significant conservation victories this year, and look forward to more good
news from this round of grantees.”
This round of grant recipients reflects the geographic distribution of
Conservation Alliance members. Conservation Alliance funds will support
efforts to: purchase a popular climbing area in North Carolina; secure new
Wilderness designations for federal lands in Nevada, Colorado, and Alaska;
protect a private land wilderness in New Hampshire; improve federal land
management in Wyoming and New Mexico; restore rivers in the Carolinas; save
a 9.6-million-acre watershed in Canadas Northwest Territories; and protect
a 30,000-acre forest in Central Oregon.
“We work hard to identify great projects throughout North America,” said
Sterling. “Its important to our members that we support a diverse range of
organizations.”
With the conclusion of this funding cycle, the Conservation Alliance has
contributed more than $5.3 million since its founding in 1989. The Alliance
has budgeted to make $500,000 in grants in 2006, a 38 percent increase in
just two years.
“The buzz around The Conservation Alliance continues to grow. Weve added
more than 25 new members this year, which increases our budget to support
more conservation efforts,” said Sterling. “The outdoor industry is really
stepping up in its support for wildland protection.”
Since its inception in 1989, the Alliance has contributed more than $4.5
million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save
over 34 million acres of wildlands; 25 dams have either been stopped or
removed; and the group helped preserve access to more than 16,000 miles of
waterways and several climbing areas.
