We were sad to learn yesterday of the passing of Jim Spring, founder of Leisure Trends Group, a Conservation Alliance member. I never met Jim, but got to know him "virtually" through his committed engagment in The Conservation Alliance. We could always rely on Jim to honor basic responsibilities of membership: voting for which organizations we should fund; nominating organizations to submit grant requests; and of course, paying membership dues. Several times over the past five years, we asked our members to sign on to letters in support of conservation initiatives that we had funded. Jim was always quick to add Leisure Trends' name — and logo — to those letters. Under Jim's leadership, Leisure Trends was a rock solid member of The Conservation Alliance.
We received a call yesterday from one of Jim's colleagues at Leisure Trends letting us know that they are asking people to donate to The Conservation Alliance to honor Jim's memory. She went on to say that Jim was proud of Leisure Trends' participation in the Alliance, and always worked hard to share news about the organization with his team in Boulder. In the course of managing our membership of nearly 200 businesses, we don't always hear stories about how leaders like Jim embrace our work internally. As we work from our small office in Oregon, it's an honor to know that we do not work alone; that people like Jim Spring are carrying our commitment to protecting wild places into their communities.
We'll miss you, Jim. Thanks for all that you did for The Conservation Alliance.