The Conservation Alliance Announces 2016 Outstanding Partnership Awards

May 17, 2016

Ibex Outdoor Clothing, Patagonia, and KEEN win praise for their outstanding partnerships with Alliance grantees

Bend, Ore., May 17, 2016 – The Conservation Alliance announces Ibex Outdoor Clothing, Patagonia, and KEEN as the winners of its Outstanding Partnership Award for 2016. The award recognizes member companies that go above and beyond in building relationships with Conservation Alliance grantees.

All Conservation Alliance grantees from the past three funding cycles were invited to nominate member companies for recognition. Each nomination described how the company engaged in a meaningful partnership to help the organization succeed in its conservation work.

“The Outstanding Partnership Award showcases the brilliant partnerships forged between our member companies and grantees,” said John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance. “Celebrating these partnerships is a reflection of the community The Conservation Alliance has helped to build and exemplifies Outdoor businesses giving back to the Outdoors.”

The Trust for Public Land nominated Ibex Outdoor Clothing for a partnership that has spanned many years and includes board service, event hosting, in-kind donations, and public and outspoken support of full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

“Over the past two years, Ibex Outdoor Clothing has been an outstanding partner and friend to The Trust for Public Land,” says Michael Giammusso, Director of Institutional Giving, The Trust for Public Land. “Our relationship with Ibex began in Vermont, and has developed into an invaluable connection.”

Portland, Oregon-based KEEN was nominated by Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) for an unprecedented organizational commitment.

“It would be difficult to imagine a company making a stronger commitment to conservation than Keen has over the last year,” said Dan Morse, Conservation Director, ONDA. “Above and beyond the company’s ingrained conservation ethic and ongoing support for organizations like ONDA, this year KEEN upped the ante for conservation across the country with its Live Monumental campaign. For the ONDA and the Owyhee Coalition this effort brought critical attention and support to the campaign to permanently protect the Owyhee Canyonlands.”

Patagonia was nominated by two grantees, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and Raincoast Conservation Foundation, for its financial support and awareness raising efforts to garner public support to protect these special places.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support from Patagonia that is helping us reach and inspire hundreds of thousands of people to protect the Boundary Waters and has the attention of national leaders who can take action this year to protect this great canoe country wilderness,” said Samantha Chadwick of the Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness.

“Patagonia gets behind ideas that matter and makes change happen,” said Ross Dixon of Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “We hold up this collaboration as an outstanding example of what is possible when the business community lends not only resources, but their skills, their people and their passion to protect wild places for habitat and the recreational values that we all share.”

Beginning in June, The Conservation Alliance will profile an Outstanding Partnership story on the Alliance blog (www.conservationalliance.com/news). The Outstanding Partnership Award is an annual initiative. Previous winners of the award include: Outdoor Gear Exchange, prAna, Mountain Equipment Co-op, The Forest Group, Eagles Nest Outfitters, Filson, Black Diamond, Juniper Ridge, and Footzone of Bend.

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 $16 million to grassroots conservation groups. Alliance funding has helped save more than 45 million acres of wildlands; protect 2,972 miles of rivers; stop or remove 28 dams; designate five marine reserves; and purchase 11 climbing areas.

For complete information on The Conservation Alliance, please visit: www.conservationalliance.com.