Get to Know The Conservation Alliance
The Conservation Alliance is a coalition of like-minded businesses working to fund and advocate for the wild places in North America. Our 270+ member companies contribute annual dues, and one hundred percent of these dues get passed through as grant funding to grassroots non-profit organizations working to permanently protect land and water. The Alliance supports approximately 50 organizations per year, which are selected through a member nomination and voting process, with careful vetting by the Alliance’s staff and board. In addition to the grant program, The Conservation Alliance leverages its business coalition to advocate for the projects we fund, bringing the power of our member businesses, thousands of employees, and billions of dollars of economic impact to bear for the protection of wild places.
Founded in 1989 by outdoor industry leaders REI, Patagonia, The North Face, and Kelty, the Alliance has expanded to include values-driven businesses in the craft beverage, tech, renewable energy, and hunt/fish industries. Together, we have helped protect 73 million acres of wildlands and 3,576 miles of rivers, stop or remove 35 dams, designate five marine reserves, and establish 18 climbing areas.
Big Wins on Current Initiatives
We have recently seen success among all three of our top priority campaigns—Bears Ears, Boundary Waters, and the Arctic!
On October 8th, President Biden made good on his campaign promise and restored protections to 1.36 million acres of this national icon. This is a big win for our grantees, Friends of Cedar Mesa, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Utah Dine Bikeyah, Grand Canyon Trust, Access Fund, and Earthjustice and our business partners who worked to ensure Bears Ears is protected for the long term. The Conservation Alliance continues to provide support to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, who are focussed on moving to a co-management system on the ground in Utah.
On October 20th, the Interior and Agriculture departments announced plans to protect another one of our priorities, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, by making a crucial move toward a 20-year moratorium on sulfide mining on 225,000 acres of federal land surrounding the Boundary Waters. There are public comment periods and more work on the horizon, this is a historic and brave move by the administration to protect America’s Most Visited Wilderness.
Recent Milestones
We awarded $2.2M in grant funding in 2021 to 52 grassroots conservation organizations. In addition, we'll award $200,000 in December to four conservation groups led by Asian, Black, Brown, Indigenous, Latinx, and other People of Color via the Confluence Program, which launched in October.
We’ve welcomed 34 new business members in 2021 (including two Pinnacle Members—Bank of the West and Public Lands, which have committed $100,000/year in support of conserving land and water). Our newest members hail from the outdoor industry, financial, renewable energy, and technology sectors.
In 2020, we began our journey to make The Conservation Alliance a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization. We partnered with Marcelo Bonta of J.E.D.I. Heart to facilitate individual, organizational, and systemic change processes. The Confluence Program is one outcome of this work. Read more about our commitments here.
And last but not least, we're almost constantly celebrating new conservation successes. We have several more to announce before the end of the year, so stay tuned!
What’s Next
We’ll be announcing the four grantees from the Confluence Program in December. We received 80 applications, which are currently being reviewed by the advisory committee.
And of course, We Keep It Wild will be taking place next week, November 8-14. We have ten brands giving back 5% of online sales for the entire week. This makes a huge impact on our organization! We are incredibly grateful to our member companies that are participating in this campaign.
How can YOU support The Conservation Alliance
People can support The Conservation Alliance by supporting our member companies,(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) making direct donations (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)to our organization or any of our grantees(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), and by engaging with us on social media and subscribing to our newsletter.
Big Wins on Current Initiatives The Conservation Alliance has recently seen success among all three of its top priority campaigns—Bears Ears, Boundary Waters, and (anticipating) the Arctic! On October 8th, President Biden made good on his campaign promise and restored protections to 1.36 million acres of this national icon. This is a big win for Alliance grantees: Friends of Cedar Mesa, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Utah Dine Bikeyah, Grand Canyon Trust, Access Fund, and Earthjustice, as well as its business partners who worked to ensure Bears Ears is protected for the long term. The Conservation Alliance continues to provide support to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, who are focussed on moving to a co-management system on the ground in Utah. On October 20th, the Interior and Agriculture departments announced plans to protect another Conservation Alliance priority, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, by making a crucial move toward a 20-year moratorium on sulfide mining on 225,000 acres of federal land surrounding the Boundary Waters. While there are public comment periods and more work on the horizon, this is a historic and brave move by the administration to protect America’s Most Visited Wilderness. The Conservation Alliance is keeping a close eye on the reconciliation (budget) bill, which will pass in the coming days or weeks. This legislation will include historic investments for climate and will hopefully reverse the Arctic drilling mandate that was passed during the last administration. Please stay tuned for updates on the Arctic!
Recent Milestones
The Conservation Alliance awarded $2.2M in grant funding in 2021 to 52 grassroots conservation organizations. In addition, they'll award another $200,000 in December to four conservation groups led by Asian, Black, Brown, Indigenous, Latinx, and other People of Color via the Confluence Program(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), which launched in October. They’ve welcomed 34 new business members in 2021 (including two Pinnacle Members—Bank of the West and Public Lands, which have committed $100,000/year). The Alliance’s newest members hail from the outdoor industry, financial, renewable energy, and technology sectors. In 2020, The Conservation Alliance began its journey to become a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization. They partnered with Marcelo Bonta of J.E.D.I. Heart to facilitate individual, organizational, and systemic change processes. The Confluence Program is one outcome of this work. Read more about our commitments here(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre). And last but not least, the Alliance is almost constantly celebrating new conservation successes(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre). There will be several more to announce before the end of the year, so stay tuned!
What’s Next In December, The Conservation Alliance will be announcing the four grantees from the Confluence Program. The program received 80 applications, which are currently under review by the advisory committee. In February 2022, Conservation Alliance member companies will participate in the next round of grant cycle voting, and the newest round of grantees will be announced in March. How can YOU support The Conservation Alliance People can support The Conservation Alliance by supporting its member companies(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), making direct donations(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) to the Alliance or any of its grantees(S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), and by engaging with the Alliance on social media.
Big Wins on Current Initiatives We have recently seen success among all three of our top priority campaigns—Bears Ears, Boundary Waters, and the Arctic! On October 8th, President Biden made good on his campaign promise and restored protections to 1.36 million acres of this national icon. This is a big win for our grantees, Friends of Cedar Mesa, Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Utah Dine Bikeyah, Grand Canyon Trust, Access Fund, and Earthjustice and our business partners who worked to ensure Bears Ears is protected for the long term. The Conservation Alliance continues to provide support to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, who are focussed on moving to a co-management system on the ground in Utah. On October 20th, the Interior and Agriculture departments announced plans to protect another one of our priorities, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, by making a crucial move toward a 20-year moratorium on sulfide mining on 225,000 acres of federal land surrounding the Boundary Waters. There are public comment periods and more work on the horizon, this is a historic and brave move by the administration to protect America’s Most Visited Wilderness. It appears that Democrats are close to moving reconciliation legislation in the coming weeks. While the package isn’t as robust as many on the Hill originally envisioned, it will include historic investments for climate and will hopefully reverse the Arctic drilling mandate that was passed during the Trump Administration. 27 Conservation Alliance companies signed our Build Back Better letter, asking Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi to help get the Build Back Better Act through Congress. We’ll be monitoring the legislation carefully, in hopes of sharing good news on the Arctic soon. Recent Milestones We awarded $2.2M in grant funding in 2021 to 52 grassroots conservation organizations. In addition, we'll award $200,000 in December to four conservation groups led by Asian, Black, Brown, Indigenous, Latinx, and other People of Color via the Confluence Program, which launched in October. We’ve welcomed 34 new business members in 2021 (including two Pinnacle Members—Bank of the West and Public Lands, which have committed $100,000/year in support of conserving land and water). Our newest members hail from the outdoor industry, financial, renewable energy, and technology sectors. In 2020, we began our journey to make The Conservation Alliance a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization. We partnered with Marcelo Bonta of J.E.D.I. Heart to facilitate individual, organizational, and systemic change processes. The Confluence Program is one outcome of this work. Read more about our commitments here. And last but not least, we're almost constantly celebrating new conservation successes. We have several more to announce before the end of the year, so stay tuned!
What’s Next We’ll be announcing the four grantees from the Confluence Program in December. We received 80 applications, which are currently being reviewed by the advisory committee. And of course, We Keep It Wild will be taking place next week, November 8-14. We have ten brands giving back 5% of online sales for the entire week. This makes a huge impact on our organization! We are incredibly grateful to our member companies that are participating in this campaign. How can YOU support The Conservation Alliance People can support The Conservation Alliance by supporting our member companies, making direct donations to our organization or any of our grantees, and by engaging with us on social media and subscribing to our newsletter.