The Conservation Alliance Backyard Collective has Record Turn-out for Bay Area Volunteer Event

Oakland, Calif. (May 2, 2014) — The Conservation Alliance held its second Backyard Collective event of 2014 on Thursday, April 24, in Oakland, Calif. The Conservation Alliance and its Bay Area member companies teamed up with East Bay Regional Parks District to organize a day of park restoration that included planting of iconic Redwood trees in the East Bay’s Redwood Regional Park. 

More than 175 volunteers participated with employee representatives from Conservation Alliance member companies, including: Ahnu, Camelbak, ClifBar, Jansport, Marmot, MountainHardwear, The North Face, and REI. Conservation Alliance grantee Bodie Hills ConservationPartnership participated in a lunchtime volunteer fair with local organizations BayArea Ridge Trail Council and Volunteersfor Outdoor California.

The Backyard Collective volunteers were given a rare opportunity to plant 50 Redwood trees and they also installed protective wire cages around each one. Other volunteers constructed 300 feet of split rail fencing to protect the newly planted trees, and dug trenches for irrigation pipes to water them. Another group of volunteers hiked approximately two miles to groom several narrow natural surface trails, clear clogged drainage structures and trim overhanging vegetation. A fourth group constructed a new log retaining wall and restored a trail shortcut that was causing eroding sediment to impact Redwood Creek.

"The East Bay Regional Park District staff really enjoy working with Conservation Alliance volunteers,” said Jim Townsend, Trails Development Program Manager for East Bay Regional Parks District. “The dedication of both the volunteers and the companies they work for really shows the quality and quantity of work we accomplish. Fifty years from now, the Backyard Collective volunteers will be able to bring their grandchildren to Redwood Park and visit the beautiful redwood grove they helped create back in 2014.”

The Conservation Alliance is a group of outdoor industry companies that fund conservation organizations. The Alliance launched the Backyard Collective Program in 2008 to connect individuals in the outdoor industry with the work of organizations that receive financial support from the group. The Backyard Collective moves that action to the field, and gives people a venue to get their “hands dirty” for the sake of conservation.

The Conservation Alliance plans to organize additional Backyard Collectives this year in Seattle, Bend, Portland, and Boulder, Colo.

For more information about this event, please contact events coordinator, Brook Hopper at brook@conservationalliance.com, or 805-340-5034.

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 $13 million to grassroots conservation groups throughout North America. The results of our funding have been remarkable. Alliance funding has helped save more than 42 million acres of wildlands; protect 2,825 miles of rivers; stop or remove 26 dams; designate five marine reserves; and purchase nine climbing areas.

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


By press release