One of the main purposes behind the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is to advocate for sustainable business. What does that mean? We work to promote all that our member stores do for their local communities as independently-owned stores. Concurrently, we work to promote our stores’ environmental initiatives on the local and national levels.
Grassroots members continually shape the outdoor industry and take great pride in that fact. We work to promote the causes that are important to our stores on local and regional levels, which positions each store front as a resource to its respective region and communities.

Grassroots Outdoor Alliance unites our 74 store locations into a stronger collective voice on the national level. Our membership to the Conservation Alliance best represents this aspect of our mission statement.

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 throughout North America.

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 $6 million to grassroots environmental groups. Alliance funding has helped save over 39 million acres of wildlands; stop or remove 26 dams; and preserve access to more than 16,000 miles of waterways and several climbing areas.

For more information on The Conservation Alliance and how to join our efforts check out www.conservationalliance.com.
In April 2008, The Conservation Alliance made $450,000 in grants to 17 organizations.

American Whitewater (Cullowhee, NC) $25,000
American Whitewater works to conserve and restore America’s whitewater resources and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely.  Our funding supports the Colorado Stewardship Program to protect and restore water flows in streams throughout Colorado.

Appalachian Mountain Club (Boston, MA) & Trust for Public Land (Montpelier, VT) $30,000
Appalachian Mountain Club and Trust for Public Land are collaborating on the Mahoosuc Conservation Campaign. This grant supports their partnership to protect key natural and recreational areas in the 600,000-acre Mahoosuc region of New Hampshire and Maine.

Audubon Alaska (Anchorage, AK) $30,000
Audubon Alaska focuses on the conservation of Alaska’s natural ecosystems with emphasis on wildlife and habitat.  Our funding supports the Alaska Conservation Program, to protect key Alaska wildlands including the Tongass National Forest and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Campaign to Save Roan Plateau (Carbondale, CO) $20,000
The Campaign to Save Roan Plateau is committed to securing lasting protection for the undeveloped public lands on Colorado’s Roan Plateau.  Our grant supports CSRP’s efforts to protect the Roan Plateau from oil and gas development.

Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (Ottawa, ON) $30,000
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has a bold conservation vision of permanently protecting one half of Canada’s public lands, freshwater and ocean environments.  This grant supports CPAWS’ Nahanni Forever Campaign to protect the 7-million-acre South Nahanni River Watershed in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Cascade Land Conservancy (Seattle, WA) $30,000
Cascade Land Conservancy works to protect and steward the Northwest’s precious land resources.  Our grant supports the group’s Boulder Falls Campaign to purchase a key parcel of land on the Boulder River, currently proposed as the site for a new hydroelectric dam.

Colorado Mountain Club (Carbondale, CO) $20,000
The oldest outdoor organization in Colorado, the Colorado Mountain Club brings together energy, interest and knowledge to educate and encourage preservation.  We funded CMC’s ORV Management Plan Campaign to secure a network of non-motorized recreation designations on public lands throughout Colorado.

Colorado Wild (Durango, CO) $20,000
Colorado Wild works to protect, preserve, and restore the native plants and wildlife of the Southern Rocky Mountains.  Our grant supports the group’s effort to preserve critical habitat from a large real estate development at Wolf Creek Pass.

Conservation Northwest (Bellingham, WA) $25,000
Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington coast to the BC Rockies.  We supported CNW’s Columbia Highlands Initiative to protect 350,000 acres of public land in Washington State’s Colville and eastern Okanogan National Forests.

Greater Yellowstone Coalition (Bozeman, MT) $30,000
Greater Yellowstone Coalition works to protect the lands, waters and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.  We funded GYC’s Wyoming Range Campaign to protect the 1.2-million-acre Wyoming Range from proposed oil and gas development.

Idaho Conservation League (Boise, ID) $20,000
Idaho Conservation League works to protect and preserve clean water, clean air, and wilderness in Idaho. Our grant supports the Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness Campaign to protect 320,000 acres of public land in the mountains of Central Idaho.

Northern Alaska Environmental Center (Fairbanks, AK) $30,000
The Northern Alaska Environmental Center promotes conservation of the environment in Interior and Arctic Alaska.  We funded NAEC’s Yukon Flats Refuge Campaign to protect three areas in Alaska’s Yukon from oil development.

Oregon Natural Desert Association (Bend, OR) $30,000
Oregon Natural Desert Association works to protect, defend, and restore the health of Oregon’s native deserts.  Our grant supports the group’s Badlands Wilderness Campaign to secure Wilderness designation for 30,000 acres of desert wildlands in Central Oregon.

Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition (Asheville, NC) $30,000
The Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition works to protect and restore the wildlands, water, native forests, and ecosystems of the Southern Appalachian landscape.  We funded SAFC’s Tennessee Wilderness Campaign to protect nearly 18,000 acres of public land in the Cherokee National Forest.

Trout Unlimited Alaska Program (Juneau, AK) $30,000
Trout Unlimited works to protect and restore wild salmon and trout populations throughout Alaska.  Our grant supports TU’s  Pebble Mine Campaign to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from a proposed open-pit gold-copper mine in the bay’s headwaters.

WaterWatch of Oregon (Portland, OR) $25,000
WaterWatch protects and restores natural stream flows in Oregon’s rivers.  We funded the group’s Free the Rogue Campaign which seeks to remove Savage Rapids Dam and other barriers that, once removed, will allow fish passage and improve river recreation on Oregon’s Rogue River.

West Virginia Wilderness Coalition (Morgantown, WV) $25,000
West Virginia Wilderness Coalition works to protect special places on public lands in West Virginia.  We funded WVWC’s  Wild Monongahela Wilderness Campaign to protect more than 70,000 acres of public land in the Monongahela National Forest.

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