Bend, Ore. (March 27, 2023) –
The Conservation Alliance (TCA) is excited to present the recipients of its Winter 2023 Grants. In this cycle, $650,000 in grants were dispersed to 17 organizations working to protect outdoor spaces and wild places throughout North America. An additional $70,000 in grants were awarded to four organizations through discretionary funds. TCA is on track to award $2.2 million by the end of this year.
TCA staff and board members evaluated 50 proposals before narrowing the field. Final grantees for the Winter 2023 cycle were chosen by TCA member companies through a nomination and voting process. One grantee that TCA will continue to support – Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness is working on the priority campaign, Save the Boundary Waters, which saw a major victory earlier this year with the implementation of a 20-year mining ban
“The strength of The Conservation Alliance comes from our member companies, whose annual dues fund our grant programs. We are honored to support these critical land and water conservation projects for climate stability, biodiversity, cultural heritage and outdoor recreation. Funding paired with our collective advocacy and communications support, we believe, will enable these projects to ultimately see success,” said Nicole Rom, Executive Director at The Conservation Alliance.
The 21 projects are located across 12 American states – Alaska, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington – and one Canadian province – Yukon.
The Conservation Alliance works with over 270 member companies to identify important conservation projects that seek to protect wild places and outdoor spaces. Each member company contributes annual dues to a central grant fund which are distributed through discretionary opportunities, our Confluence Program and a winter and summer cycle to the grassroots groups working to secure conservation outcomes.
Projects funded in the winter grant cycle are as follows:
Alaska Wilderness League – Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – $50,000
Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition – Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition Tribal Sovereignty Advancement – $50,000
California Wilderness Coalition – Southern California National Monuments – $50,000
Central Oregon LandWatch – Save Skyline Forest – $25,000
Conservation Lands Foundation – Caja del Rio Protection Campaign – $35,000
Greater Yellowstone Coalition – Yellowstone Boundary Gold Mine: Extinguishing the last remaining gold mining threat to Yellowstone National Park – $50,000
New Mexico Wilderness Alliance – Greater Chaco Protection Campaign – $40,000
Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness – Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters – $50,000
Outdoor Alliance – Protecting North Carolina’s Mountain Treasures – $45,000
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership – Protecting the Oregon Owyhee Canyonlands – $35,000
The Wildlands Conservancy – Cottonwood Wash Acquisition – $35,000
Trust for Public Land – Tualatin Mountain Forest – $40,000
Washington Wild – WA Flagship Outstanding Resource Waters Designation – $25,000
Water Watch of Oregon – The Campaign to Remove Winchester, Pomeroy and Murphy Dams – $35,000
Western Rivers Conservancy – Willapa Bay – Expanding a National Wildlife Refuge on Washington’s Bear River – $40,000
Wild Montana – The Lowerstone Yellowstone River Project – $25,000
Wilderness Workshop – Thompson Divide Administrative Mineral Withdrawal – $20,000
Projects funded through the discretionary grant program are as follows:
CPAWS Yukon – More than gold: Protecting the Dawson Region and preparing to protect its neighbor, the Northern Tutchone Region – $20,000
Southern Environmental Law Center – Securing the Designation of Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area – $10,000
The Santuary at Crystal Lake – “Newburgh Wants a Park Campaign” to Protect Crystal Lake – $15,000
Tuleyome – Protecting Molok Luyuk – $25,000