Conservation Alliance awards $160,000 in first round of funding

The Conservation Alliance, a coalition of outdoor industry businesses working to fund conservation and recreation causes, has awarded five $32,000 grants to organizations working to protect lands for habitat and recreation. This is the Conservation Alliance’s first round of grant-funding for 2004. Those receiving grants are:

>> Alaska Conservation Foundation for the Defend Alaska NOW! Campaign. The campaign is working to stop logging of old growth timber in the Tongass National Forest and other public lands; to protect parks, refuges and other public interest lands from harmful development; and to help prevent oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

>> American Wildlands of Montana received Alliance support for the Northern Yellowstone Wildlands Campaign which is working to increase protection for wildlands and rivers that are threatened by expanding off-road vehicle use and resulting erosion, logging and related road construction, as well as human development near parts of the forest.

>> Arizona Wilderness Coalition received a grant to support the coalition’s Southern Arizona Wilderness Campaign, a proactive campaign to designate new wilderness areas in southern Arizona by conducting wilderness inventories, educating the public, and mobilizing grassroots advocates for lasting wilderness and water protection.

>> California Wilderness Coalition earned Alliance support for the Defense of the Wild Campaign which is working to bring together individuals and organizations to defend California from immediate threats including irresponsible logging and mining, off-road vehicle abuse, and energy extraction.

>> Friends of the Blackwater, based in West Virginia, was provided with a grant to support the organization’s efforts to transfer the remaining private in-holding in the Blackwater Canyon to public ownership, as well as to prevent the Blackwater Canyon Trail in the Monongahela National Forest from becoming a logging road, and helping connect the trail to the American Discovery Trail route.

The Conservation Alliance is made up of more than 60 outdoor businesses whose membership fees and donations go to support grassroots citizen-action groups and their efforts to protect wild and natural areas.

SNEWS® View: The SNEWS® and GearTrends® team is proud to count itself as a member of the Conservation Alliance. One hundred percent of all Alliance fees and donations go toward the preservation of recreation and wild space. Since its founding in 1989, The Conservation Alliance has given more than $3.5 million in support of outdoor conservation causes and, as a result, had a direct impact in supporting a healthier business climate for the outdoor industry. For more information, or to find out how your business can become involved with the Conservation Alliance, go to www.conservationalliance.com.