The Conservation Alliance sent checks totaling $400,000 to 17
organizations working to protect wild places throughout North America.
The donations marked the Alliance’s final disbursal of funding for
2007, and represent the largest single funding round in the
organization’s history. The Alliance has invested $800,000 in
conservation projects in 2007, and this round brings total giving to $6
million since the organization’s founding in 1989.

By a vote of the group’s 147 member companies, The Conservation
Alliance made donations to 17 grassroots conservation organizations as
follows:

1. Adirondack Mountain Club (Lake George, NY) $20,000
2. Alaska Wilderness League (Washington, DC) $30,000
3. Appalachian Trail Conservancy (Harpers Ferry, WV) $30,000
4. California Trout (San Francisco, CA) $15,000
5. Clayoquot Solutions Steering Committee (Vancouver,
BC) $20,000
6. Colorado Environmental Coalition (Denver, CO) $30,000
7. Friends of Allegheny Wilderness (Warren, PA) $25,000
8. Friends of the River (Sacramento, CA) $20,000
9. Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center (Ashland, OR) $20,000
10. Montana Wilderness Association (Helena, MT) $30,000
11. Nevada Wilderness Project (Reno, NV) $20,000
12. Oregon Wild (Portland, OR) $30,000
13. Save Our Wild Salmon (Seattle, WA) $30,000
14. Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project (Asheville,
NC) $20,000
15. The Wilderness Society of Idaho (Boise, ID) $15,000
16. Utah Rivers Council (Salt Lake City, UT) $30,000
17. Western Colorado Congress (Grand Junction, CO) $15,000
Total $400,000

“With
these grants, outdoor industry companies have made an important
investment in their future,” said John Sterling, Executive Director of
The Conservation Alliance. “Protected wild places are good for outdoor
business.”

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 Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, and
Idaho; protect wild rivers in California, Utah and Oregon; improve
off-road vehicle regulations in the Adirondacks; establish a new
National Scenic Area in North Carolina; and protect spectacular ancient
forests in Canada. “Our members continue to identify an amazing array
of conservation projects,” said Sterling.

This is the final
grant disbursement The Conservation Alliance will make in 2007,
bringing the year’s total to $800,000. The Alliance also surpassed $6
million in total giving since founding in 1989. “For nearly 20 years,
our member companies have demonstrated their commitment to protecting
wild lands and rivers for their recreation and habitat values,” said
Sterling. “We will continue to show that commitment.”