The Conservation Alliance Announces Final 2011 Backyard Collective

Bend, Ore. (September 29, 2011) —The Conservation Alliance will hold its eighth and final Backyard Collective of 2011 on Thursday, September 29th, in Bend, Ore. The Conservation Alliance is partnering with grantee Deschutes Land Trust to organize a day of forest restoration in the 1,240-acre Metolius Preserve, working toward the trust’s long-term goal of restoring the forest’s old-growth ponderosa pine stands and encouraging new pine regeneration.

Forty volunteers are expected to turn out, with employee representation from sponsoring companies, including: Ruff Wear, Inc., QuickFeat, FootZone of Bend, GearTribe, and REI.Local non-profits, The Deschutes Land Trust, Oregon Natural Desert Association, and 1000 Friends of Oregon will be participating in a lunchtime grantee education fair, which will bring Alliance members and volunteers up to date on the conservation efforts and plans of the organization and its partners.

The event will be held on Thursday, September 29th at 8:45 a.m. Volunteers will be provided with water bottles from Stanley, a brand of PMI, and Icebreaker merino wool t-shirts.The work session will be followed by a catered lunch from Bleu Bite Catering and grantee education fair beginning at 11:30 a.m.

The Conservation Alliance is a group of outdoor industry companiesthat fund conservation organizations. The Alliance launched the Backyard Collective Program in August 2008 to connect individuals in the outdoor industry with the work of organizations that receive financial support from the group. The Backyard Collective moves that action to the field, and gives people a venue to get their “hands dirty” for the sake of conservation.

For more information about this event please contact coordinator, Serena Bishop Gordon at serena@conservationalliance.com or 541.389.2424

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 $9.3 million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save over 50.5 million acres of wildlands; 28 dams have either been stopped or removed; and the group helped preserve access to more than 18,500 miles of waterways and several climbing areas.

For complete information on the Conservation Alliance, seewww.conservationalliance.com.