ConservationNEXT Backyard Collectives Rock the Pacific Northwest

Bend, Ore.,– ConservationNEXT, the outreach arm of The Conservation Alliance, held three volunteer events throughout the Pacific Northwest in May. More than 200 Conservation Alliance member company employees and customers spent time in the field getting their hands dirty restoring special wild places.

The all-day service projects took place on May 8 in The Oregon Badlands, near Bend, on May 15 in a new park outside of Portland, and on May 29 in West Seattle’s Lincoln Park. Participants undertook a range of stewardship activities including camouflaging closed ATV routes (The Badlands), removing invasive English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry (Portland), and restoring a native Madrone and conifer forest (Seattle).

“It’s great to get outdoor industry folks out in the field for a day of gratifying restoration work,” said Krissy Moehl, Conservation Alliance Program Associate, who organized the three Northwest events. “This is our way of connecting our member companies with our grantees and their important conservation work.”

Each Backyard Collective was organized with a Conservation Alliance grantee that needed volunteer support. In addition, each event featured a lively “environmental fair” that provided conservation organizations the opportunity to share information about their work with the day’s volunteers.

Volunteers included employees from: Filson, Brooks Running, Stanley Outdoors, Nikwax, Outdoor Research, Cascade Designs, Patagonia, REI, Teva, Clif Bar, KEEN Footwear, Horny Toad/Lizard Lounge, Ben Moon Photography, Ruff Wear, FootZone of Bend, Patagonia by Pandora’s Backpack, and Quick Feat International.

“We want to make conservation fun, and give our members a closer connection to our work,” said Moehl. “I think we accomplished that.”

The next Backyard Collective is slated for July 10 in Portland’s Forest Park.



About the Conservation Alliance:
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 in the Alliance 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.

Since its inception in 1989, the Alliance has contributed more than $7.4 million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save over 42 million acres of wildlands; 27 dams have either been stopped or removed; and the group helped preserve access to more than 17,000 miles of waterways and several climbing areas.

For complete information on the Conservation Alliance, see www.conservationalliance.com.