The Conservation Alliance sent checks totaling $450,000 to 17 organizations working to protect wild places throughout North America. The donations marked the Alliance’s final funding disbursal for 2008, and brings the year’s total to $900,000. This round brings total giving to $7 million since the organization’s founding in 1989.


By a vote of the group’s 160 member companies, The Conservation Alliance made donations to 17 grassroots conservation organizations as follows:


Alaska Wilderness League (Washington, DC)- $35,000
American Rivers (Washington, DC) – $20,000
Appalachian Trail Conservancy (Harpers Ferry, WV) – $25,000
California Wilderness Coalition (Oakland, CA) – $30,000
Central Oregon Landwatch (Bend, OR) – $30,000
Environmental Defense Center (Santa Barbara, CA) – $13,000
Montana Wilderness Association (Helena, MT) – $30,000
Northeast Wilderness Trust (Boston, MA) – $30,000
Oregon Wild (Portland, OR) – $30,000
Rivers Without Borders (Juneau, AK) – $25,000
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (Juneau, AK) – $30,000
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (Salt Lake City, UT) – $25,000
The Adirondack Council (Elizabethtown, NY) – $30,000
Utah Rivers Council (Salt Lake City, UT) – $25,000
Wild Fish Conservancy (Duvall, WA) – $12,000
Wilderness Support Center (Durango, CO) – $30,000
Winter Wildlands Alliance (Boise, ID) – $30,000
TOTAL $450,000


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


“In challenging economic times, we met our goal of contributing $900,000 in 2008,” said Executive Director John Sterling. “That’s a significant investment in protecting our wild places.”

Click here for a complete overview of each grant.



The Conservation Alliance is an organization of outdoor businesses whose collective contributions support grassroots environmental organizations and their efforts to protect wild places where outdoor enthusiasts recreate. Alliance funds have played a key role in protecting rivers, trails, wildlands and climbing areas. Membership is open to companies representing all aspects of the outdoor industry, including manufacturers, retailers, publishers, mills and sales representatives. The result is a diverse group of businesses whose livelihood depends on protecting our natural environment.