The Conservation Alliance had another terrific year in 2018. Conservation faced serious political challenges, and we responded by contributing an all-time high $1.9 million to 55 conservation projects. That means that our 231 member companies pulled together like never before to fund the most effective conservation projects in North America. Our grantees delivered 16 conservation victories that protected 193,683 acres of land and five river miles, removed four dams, and purchased one climbing area. We work hard to identify effective conservation organizations that can succeed in any political climate, and are proud of our results in 2018. We also made grants from our Public Lands Defense Fund to organizations working to defend the integrity of our public lands system. These grants are being used to defend National Monument designations, the Roadless Rule, and other new threats to public lands posed by the Trump Administration. We supplemented our grants with advocacy efforts that demonstrate business support for protected wild places, bringing our voices to decision-makers in Washington, DC and on the local level. By collecting annual membership dues from outdoor industry companies, and granting 100 percent of those dues to organizations working to protect specific wild lands and waterways throughout North America, and supplementing those grants with business advocacy, we brought outdoor industry voices and resources to bear on important efforts to protect and defend our wild places. Here are the highlights from 2018:
- We contributed $1,700,000 to 45 projects that seek to protect and restore North America’s wild places.
- We granted another $200,000 from our new Public Lands Defense Fund to ten organizations working to defend existing protected public lands and core environmental laws, and to prevent the transfer of public lands to states or private ownership.
- Our grantees delivered 16 important conservation victories that: protected 193,683 acres of land and five river miles; acquired one climbing area; and removed four dams.
- We added 32 new members.
- We added four members to our Leading Edge program, which gives individuals the opportunity to make significant contributions to The Conservation Alliance.
- Through our advocacy program, we engaged our members in efforts to protect and defend our public lands and other special wild places.
- We delivered a Public Lands 101 training to 27 member companies, educating 856 employees about the US public lands system.
- We organized nine Backyard Collective events, on-the-ground stewardship projects designed to give employees of our member companies the opportunity to volunteer for our grantees.
It is our honor to serve as a connecting point between the outdoor industry and the conservation community. We look forward to another exciting year in 2019.
John Sterling
Executive Director
