Bend, Ore., March 19, 2009 – The Conservation Alliance approved grants totaling $400,000 to 15 organizations working to protect wild places throughout North America. The donations marked the Alliance’s first funding disbursal for 2009, bring total giving to more than $7.4 million since the organization’s founding in 1989.

By a vote of the group’s 165 member companies, The Conservation Alliance approved donations to 15 grassroots conservation organizations as follows:

Organization (Location) Amount

American Whitewater (Cullowhee, NC) $25,000

Arizona Wilderness Coalition (Tucson, AZ) $30,000

California Trout (San Francisco, CA) $25,000

Colorado Mountain Club (Golden, CO) $21,000

Conservation Northwest (Bellingham, WA) $25,000

CRAG Vermont (Richmond, VT) $24,000

Friends of the River (Sacramento, CA) $30,000

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (Ashland, OR) $20,000

New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (Albuquerque, NM) $35,000

Pacific Rivers Council (Portland, OR) $30,000

Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter (Victoria, BC) $35,000

Washington Wilderness Coalition (Seattle, WA) $20,000

Western Environmental Law Center (Eugene, OR) $30,000

Western Rivers Conservancy (Portland, OR) $30,000

Wyoming Outdoor Council (Lander, WY) $20,000

TOTAL $400,000

“Our membership has taken a strong stand that, despite the challenging economy, now is the time to invest in conservation,” said John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance. “Each of these grants is likely to bear fruit in the near future, to the benefit of the outdoor industry and our customers.”

This round of grant recipients reflects the geographic distribution of Conservation Alliance members. Conservation Alliance funds will support efforts to: secure new wilderness designations in Washington, New Mexico, and Arizona; protect wild rivers in Oregon, Washington, California, and Montana; purchase a climbing area in Vermont; halt oil and gas leases on public land in Wyoming; and expand a national park in British Columbia.

Each project was first nominated for funding by a Conservation Alliance member company.

“Each of these grants is an investment in the future of the industry,” said Sterling. “Outdoor product users need wild places, and through The Conservation Alliance, our industry is doing its part to save those places.”

See http://www.conservationnext.com/UserFiles/File/W09%20Grant%20Announcement.pdf for a complete overview of each grant.

About the Conservation Alliance:

The Conservation Alliance is an organization of outdoor businesses whose collective contributions support grassroots environmental organizations and their efforts to protect wild places where outdoor enthusiasts recreate. Alliance funds have played a key role in protecting rivers, trails, wildlands and climbing areas.

Membership in the Alliance is open to companies representing all aspects of the outdoor industry, including manufacturers, retailers, publishers, mills and sales representatives. The result is a diverse group of businesses whose livelihood depends on protecting our natural environment.

Since its inception in 1989, the Alliance has contributed more than $7.4 million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save over 38 million acres of wildlands; 26 dams have either been stopped or removed; and the group helped preserve access to more than 16,000 miles of waterways and several climbing areas.

For complete information on the Conservation Alliance, see www.conservationalliance.com.