The Conservation Alliance Backyard Collective Returns to the Northwest

Bend, Ore. (August 16, 2011)—The Conservation Alliance will hold their next Backyard Collective Friday, August 19th, in Portland, Ore. The Conservation Alliance is teaming up with Forest Park Conservancy and Johnson Creek Watershed Council to organize a mix of trail maintenance and habitat restoration in Forest Park and Sellwood Park. This marks the fifth Backyard Collective for the organization this year, including previous visits to Seattle, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City.

The event will begin on Friday, August 19th at 8:00 a.m. Volunteers will be provided with water bottles from Stanley, a brand of PMI and merino wool shirt from Icebreaker.The work session will be followed by a catered lunch and grantee education fair at 12:45 p.m.

More than 250 volunteers are expected to be present with employee representatives from sponsoring companies including: Columbia, Keen, Icebreaker, Merrell, Nau, Horny Toad, Undersolen media, Egan & Associates, Andy Maser Films, and REI. Oregon Wild, Save Our Wild Salmon, WaterWatch, and American Rivers, all Conservation Alliance grantees, will be participating in the grantee education fair.

Volunteers will be organized into groups and work on trail maintenance and invasive species removal.

The Conservation Alliance is a group of outdoor industry companies that 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@conservationallianc.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 $9.5 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.