The work at Conservation Alliance wouldn't be possible without all of our outdoor industry brand members. But a lot of them aren't only involved with Conservation Alliance; many of our member brands are committed to a diverse variety of environmental causes. Every Thursday we'll be featuring a cross-post from one of our member companies to highlight the causes that they're active in. A little over a month ago we encouraged you to take action to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Last week Kate over at member company Nemo Equipmentwrote a great post outlining why outdoor enthusiasts should voice their support for this legislation, so we figured we'd post it for today's Conservation Stories. We hope it inspires you to voice your support!
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The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was established by Congress in 1964 to help fund state and local conservation efforts and to protect national parks, forests and wilderness areas. Funding comes from offshore oil and gas leases.
Over its 46-year history, LWCF has helped state agencies and local communities acquire nearly seven million acres of land and has underwritten the development of more than 37,000 state and local park and recreation projects. Federal LWCF project sites include popular recreational areas like Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, California's Big Sur Coast, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Montana. Stateside LWCF project sites include New York City's Central Park, Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and Custer State Park in South Dakota, as well as thousands of local playgrounds, soccer fields, and baseball diamonds.
LWCF is authorized at $900 million annually; a level that has been met only twice during the program's 46 years. The program is divided into State grants and Federal acquisition funds. In FY 2005, the federal acquisition pot received $166 million and the state grants program received $92.5 million for a total of $258.5 million. In FY 2006 the federal pot received $114.5 and the state grants received $30 million. FY 2007 a total of only $138 million was received between the two.
Efforts are now underway in Congress to ensure full funding for the LWCF and your voice is an important part of making full funding a reality. If you value open spaces to recreate in, contact your senators today. Legislation that would fully fund LWCF for five years was passed by the House as a part of the gulf oil spill reform package. Companion legislation will be considered on the floor of the Senate in the coming months. NEMO has signed their letter of support, we hope you'll voice your support, too. ~Kate
President Obama announced that he has designated September National Wilderness Month. In his proclamation he said:
"Together, we must ensure that future generations can experience the tranquility and grandeur of America's natural places. As we resolve to meet this responsibility, let us also reflect on the ways in which our lives have been enriched by the gift of the American wilderness."
Happy September! Now get out and enjoy some wilderness!!!
Just a few weeks ago at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show, our member companies raised more than $35,000 for the Conservation Alliance through some great gear promotions! All of these funds will go directly to protecting the wild places (like the Flathead Valley above) we all love.
A huge thank you to the participating member companies: Arc'teryx, Black Diamond, Briggs & Riley, Brooks, Camelbak, Canada Goose, Chaco, Columbia, Dansko, Eagle Creek, Grabber, Horny Toad, Jetboil, Keen, Kelty, Mountain Khakis, Osprey, Ruff Wear, Stanley, STM, Timex and The North Face. Please support them!
If you'd like to get involved in an event for the Winter Show, please email Serena Bishop: serena@conservationalliance.com
Sweet Success!!!! As of today, the Washington Climbers Coalition is the proud owner of one of Washingtons premier climbing destinations. For more details check out this link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012739754_climbers28m.html... Read More
Sweet Success!!!! As of today, the Washington Climbers Coalition is the proud owner of one of Washingtons premier climbing destinations. For more details check out this link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012739754_climbers28m.htmlThe WCC would like to thank the Conservation Alliance for playing an integral part in this purchase.... Read More
The work atConservation Alliance wouldn't be possible without all of our outdoor industry brand members. But a lot of them aren't only involved with Conservation Alliance; many of our member brands are committed to a diverse variety of environmental causes. Every Thursday we'll be featuring a cross-post from one of our member companies to highlight the causes that they're active in. This week we were inspired by a post written over on the Columbia blog entitled Trees Worth Fighting For.
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How do you define what you love? How do you place a value on it? Would you say that loving something makes it worth fighting for? For a group of dedicated outdoor lovers, fighting for the environment is exactly how they express their love for it. In their words Tree Fight “is an initiative to inform the public of the plight of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s Whitebark pines, and to search for solutions to prevent their extinction.” Why fight for the Whitebark? In the words of Nancy Bockino, Grand Teton National Park ecologist, “Whitebark pines are one of the most ecologically important tree species living in the western United States…and can live more than a thousand years.”
Threatened by mountain pine beetles, whose habitat is spreading to higher elevations due to warming alpine temperatures, the Whitebark of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) are under attack. The 2-million acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is heralded as the last remaining intact temperate ecosystem on earth. It includes Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone Park, the National Elk Refuge, six national forests, and portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. It’s thought that half this country’s Whitebark pines live in the GYE.
Tree Fight is taking a unique approach to fighting the invasive pine beetle. “From mid June to late July, we hiked to several distinct areas in the Bridger Teton National Forest where Whitebark pine survive. In each of these plots, we applied pheromone packets to several acres of Whitebark. These packets, which transmit a message to mountain pine beetles that the nearest trees are already occupied, are stapled individually to trees at chest height.” Basically, they’re going around marking the trees as already infested, in order to help save them. Pretty ingenious, wouldn’t you say?
You can read more about Tree Fight’s efforts, and the Whitebark pines of the GYE, as well donate to the cause, at www.treefight.org.
Summer is still in full swing, but this video gave us a flurry of excitement for winter... And a kick in the pants to protect our winters. Being a part of the outdoor industry, we have a responsibility to protect our wild places — and that includes protecting them from climate change. For those of us who celebrate with each dump of snow in the mountains, we know it's up to us to make sure we keep that snow falling (and sticking)...
"There is just too much at stake for us all not to be doing something. Climate change effects everyone who lives and works in our mountain communities. Climate change is serious business to those of us who depend upon it for our jobs and our livelihoods. We all have a lot at stake, and a powerful voice. We're 16 million strong and together we can protect our winters."
Support POW and take action to protect our winters! Want to do more? Contact your local elected official, and take action to stop climate change and protect the places, and seasons, you love.
Thanks to The North Face for tipping us off on this video!
The work atConservation Alliance wouldn't be possible without all of our outdoor industry brand members. But a lot of them aren't only involved with Conservation Alliance; many of our member brands are committed to a diverse variety of environmental causes. Every Thursday we'll be featuring a cross-post from one of our member companies to highlight the causes that they're active in. This week we're taking a look at Timberland, who makes sure that their conservation efforts aren't just local, but international as well, as shown from a service day earlier this summer.
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On June 8, 54 Earthkeepers in Poland from Timberland and Marketing Investment Group headed out to the forest, the garden and the mountainside to wish Mother Nature a happy belated Earth Day. By breaking up into 6 groups and serving at a number of different service sites, the Earthkeepers in Poland were able to fix up trails, restore infrastructure and fences, clear out illegal dumping sites, protect a bridge and help with flood cleanup. All of this dedicated work took place at the nursery-gardenFalsztyn, Homole Gully/Pieniny Mountains, White Water Preserve, Black Water Preserve and theJaworki Forest.
At the Homole Gully/Pieniny Mountains service site, 5,400 liters of rubbish, pipe, bathtub pieces, and linoleum were collected, sorted and prepared for recycling. And at the White Water Preserve, 480 liters of rubbish was removed from the green landscape.
In total, the Timberland Poland team members completed 500 hours of service. We applaud the Earthkeepers in Poland for their hard work in celebration of our shared planet.
A couple of weeks ago, we dedicated an entire day to keeping it wild. Our member companies and grantees responded in full force, taking action to restore free-flowing rivers and big whitewater, protect millions of acres of wilderness and other special places that we all go to get wild and explore.
And now it's time to keep that action going. We can't just protect our wild lands for one day — we have to protect them every day. So, every week, we'll bring you news and an action from our grantees. And we urge you to take a minute out of your day to protect some of America's most special wild places. And take a moment every day to explore your own backyard — and protect it!
Every summer the manufacturers and retailers of outdoor equipment converge on Salt Lake City for the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market – an event that this year drew an estimated 20,000 people. SUWA partnered with the Conservation Alliance to participate in the Keep It Wild day which paired environmental groups with outdoor gear manufacturers to take action to protect our natural resources. SUWA was generously hosted by Osprey Packs, and in their booth at the show we collected over 300 postcards written by folks who were asking the Obama administration protect wild Utah. Participants also posed for photos with “Flat Ken,” a likeness of Interior Department Secretary Salazar who has the power to protect over 6 million acres of redrock land now vulnerable to oil and gas drilling and off-road vehicle abuse. The day was topped off with a party hosted By KEEN Footwear, celebrating a day of conservation advocacy at the show.
The Conservation Alliance announced a new level of membership that will recognize companies that contribute at least $100,000 annually to the organization. During the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market last week, the Alliance announced that Eastern Mountain Sports, KEEN, Inc., Patagonia, REI, and The North Face have committed to be the first five members of this new "Pinnacle" membership level. Pictured above are Casey Sheahan (Patagonia), Sally Jewell (REI), Steve Rendle (The North Face), James Curleigh (KEEN), and Will Manzer (Eastern Mountain Sports) as they received a standing ovation from the audience at The Conservation Alliance Breakfast.
"Our goal is to increase the amount of funding we can contribute to conservation efforts throughout North America," said John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance. "We have terrific opportunities right now to save our last wild places, and these five members are showing the leadership we need to safeguard wild lands and rivers for the long term."
The Alliance is encouraging other members to increase their commitment to the organization, and expects to announce additional above-and-beyond contributions at the January Outdoor Retailer show.
"We recognize that our industry must do more to save our special wilderness areas and wild rivers," said Lisa Pike Sheehy, Director of Environmental Programs at Patagonia, and a member of The Conservation Alliance board. "The Alliance directs 100 percent of our members' dues into the hard-working hands of the best conservation organizations in North America, and measures ROI in terms of acres of land and miles of rivers protected, dams stopped or removed, and climbing areas acquired. It's a clean model, and we're proud to participate at the $100,000 level."
The Conservation Alliance will disburse $900,000 this year, and expects to surpass the $1 million mark for the first time in 2011.
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