EMS Partners with the Conservation Alliance and the Access Fund

Eastern Mountain Sports, one of the nation’s leading outdoor specialty retailers, is partnering with the Conservation Alliance, a group of outdoor industry companies that work together to support conservation efforts, and the Access Fund, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment, by donating one percent of all proceeds from its semi-annual Upgrade Your Gear sale at all store locations April 20 – 22, 2007. The proceeds will be divided equally between the Conservation Alliance and the Access Fund. “Our mission is to encourage consumers to appreciate the outdoors and the responsibility that accompanies this privilege,” said Eastern Mountain Sports CEO and President Will Manzer. “As a business that is fully engaged in this community, it is important to us to support organizations such as the Conservation Alliance and the Access Fund that lead the effort in maintaining wild places for their habitat and recreational values. Our Upgrade Your Gear sale is extremely popular, and the added incentive for our customers to help these associations will generate significant donations to both partners.”

“Eastern Mountain Sports has been a key partner in our efforts to support conservation projects in the Northeastern U.S.,” said John Sterling, executive director, Conservation Alliance. “With leadership and a commitment to protecting the environment, Eastern Mountain Sports demonstrates that businesses play an important role in saving wildlands for future generations of people and wildlife alike.”

“As Eastern Mountain Sports was founded by climbers, the company is a natural partner that understands our mission and the great need to conserve our climbing environments,” said Steve Matous, executive director of the Access Fund. “Eastern Mountain Sports has supported the Access Fund for over a decade – ongoing partnerships like this are vital to our work. We look forward to continuing this long-term relationship with the company and its customers.”

About Eastern Mountain Sports:
Founded in 1967 by two New England rock climbers and based in Peterborough, N.H., Eastern Mountain Sports is one of the nation’s leading outfitters of outdoor gear, clothing, footwear and accessories with 67 retail stores in 12 states. Eastern Mountain Sports designs and sells products for outdoor adventurers who participate in a variety of sports, such as mountaineering, backpacking, camping, hiking, adventure racing, climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and snow sports. Eastern Mountain Sports product and technology is tested by its product development and quality assurance teams in conjunction with the Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing, Kayaking and Ski Schools. More information is available at www.ems.com.

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.

Since its inception in 1989, the Alliance has contributed more than $5.5 million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save over 36 million acres of wildlands; 26 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. For complete information on the Conservation Alliance, see www.conservationalliance.com.

About the Access Fund:
Since 1991, the Access Fund has been the only national advocacy organization that keeps climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment. The Access Fund supports and represents over 1.6 million climbers nationwide in ALL forms of climbing; rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, and bouldering. Five core programs support the mission on national and local levels: public policy, stewardship & conservation (including grants), grassroots activism, climber education, and land acquisition. For more information visit www.accessfund.org or www.boulderproject.org.

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