Summer 2011 Funding Cycle Grant Announcement

We are pleased to announce the results of The Conservation Alliance Summer 2011 Funding Cycle.  We have awarded $550,000 to the 18 organizations listed below.  This year, The Conservation Alliance will contribute more than $1 million to organizations working to permantely protect wild places.  Please check out the full summary of the Summer 2011 Funding Cycle by…

Bend Backyard Collective Moves Forest Restoration Forward

Almost 50 volunteers joined us in the Metolius Preserve for the Bend Backyard Collective on Thursday, September, 29th.  Employees from Ruff Wear, Inc., GearTribe, REI, Stanley, a brand of PMI, and QuickFeat International spent the morning lending a hand with forest restoration to help meet the Land Trust's long-term goal of restoring old-growth ponderosa pine…

ONDA Receives Volunteer Award

We are proud to announce that Conservation Alliance Grantee, Oregon Natural Desert Association, has been named a regional winner in the Outstanding Volunteer Program category for the 2011 Governor's Volunteer Awards. This award recognizes ONDA's Wilderness Stewardship Program for their dedication, commitment and determination in promoting and supporting volunteerism throughout Oregon with the purpose of…

Bill Introduced to Expand San Juan Mountain Wilderness

  Photo: Jonathan Richter On September 27, Mark Udall announced that he has introduced a bill to preserve some of the state's most iconic public lands in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.  The San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act would designate 33,000 acres as wilderness – mostly as expansions of the existing Lizard Head…

On a divisive dam, a snippy bit of graffiti

Mel Melcon, Los Angeles Times / September 19, 2011 A picture says a thousand words.  In this case, tens of thousands of words.  "Tear the thing down already." This is a dam that should be removed.  Built in 1947, the 200-foot Matilija Dam, near Ojai, California, was flawed from the onset; depriving beaches 17 miles…

Backyard Collective travels to the East Coast

  More than 100 volunteers from Eastern Mountain Sports, Briggs & Riley Travelware, EarthTec, NEMO Equipment, Jetboil, and Polartec came out to support the East Coast Backyard Collective. This great group of volunteers partnered with several local environmental organizations and spread out through the Monadnock region of New Hampshire to work on a variety of…

World’s biggest dam removal begins this week

Year of the River: Episode 1 from Andy Maser on Vimeo. The biggest dam removal project in history begins this Saturday on Washington's Elwha River. American Rivers, the national leader in restoring rivers through dam removal, applauded the effort which will revitalize salmon runs and deliver significant cultural, economic, and recreation benefits to the Lower…

Speak out now to protect the Arctic Refuge

Right now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking YOUR input on a plan for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that, for the first time, could recommend Wilderness protection for the Coastal Plain – the Refuge's biological epicenter that has been in Big Oil's sights for decades. A Wilderness recommendation would protect this unparalleled…