the conservation alliance hosts successful backyard collective event in ventura, california

BEND, Ore. (April 16, 2019) – The Conservation Alliance held its second Backyard Collective event of 2019 in Ventura, California on Thursday, April 11. The stewardship project drew 230 volunteers from nine member companies and three conservation partners.

The volunteers worked in support of Ventura Land Trust projects at the Big Rock Preserve. Volunteers worked to repair more than one mile of trails that were damaged by this winter's rain storms, irrigate new plantings with water from the Ventura River, build new trails that had been blocked by fallen trees, and repair areas that were impacted by the Thomas Fire.

The Big Rock Preserve is open to the public from dawn to dusk and is located along the Ventura River Bike Trail just south of Foster Park in Ventura. Volunteers also freed up native willow trees at Foster park that were being choked by arundo, an invasive giant reed that looks like bamboo, and cleared a new path to access the river.

Conservation Alliance member companies All Good, Browne Accounting, College Outside, Patagonia, REI, Teva, The Arbor Collective, The Forest Group, and Toad&Co. participated in the event. CLIF Bar generously donated energy bars for all attendees and Deschutes Brewery donated beers to celebrate The Conservation Alliance’s 30th anniversary.

The mission of The Conservation Alliance is to engage businesses to fund and partner with organizations to protect wild places for their habitat and recreation values. The Conservation Alliance launched the Backyard Collective Program to give member company employees in the outdoor industry the opportunity to work together on a local stewardship projects while learning more about organizations that receive funding from the group.

Conservation Alliance grantees joined in a grantee fair to share current information and calls-to-action about their programs. Grantees included Environmental Defense Center, Los Padres ForestWatch, and Ventura Land Trust.          

“We always get a spectacular turnout for our Backyard Collective in the Ventura/Santa Barbara area, and this year was no exception,” said John Sterling, executive director of The Conservation Alliance. “We are grateful to our members and conservation partners on the Central Coast for coming together to improve Big Rock Preserve. Conservation starts at home, and these events represent a strong commitment to preserving these companies’ backyard.”

For more information about this event, please contact Abby Becker, Backyard Collective Outreach Coordinator at abby@conservationalliance.com.

About The Conservation Alliance

The Conservation Alliance is an organization of like-minded 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 all companies who care about protecting our most threatened wild places for habitat and outdoor recreation. Since its inception in 1989, The Conservation Alliance has contributed more than $22 million, helped to protect more than 51 million acres of wildlands; protect 3,107 miles of rivers; stop or remove 34 dams; designate five marine reserves; and purchase 14 climbing areas. For complete information on The Conservation Alliance, see www.conservationalliance.com.