Back in September we sent out a call to our Hyke & Byke readers, asking you to help us vote on a number of exciting conservation efforts around North America. These projects were all vying for funding from the Conservation Alliance, which twice a year chooses several initiatives to support.
We received hundreds of votes from you, our readers. It was a two-way tie for your top picks:
Before we close out the year, we wanted to be sure we announced that the Alliance made their choices for the summer 2021 grant cycle. According to the Alliance, "this cycle, we awarded $890,000 to grassroots groups working to protect wild places across North America. These projects were chosen by you, our member companies, through a nomination and voting process."
Here are the grant recipients (spoiler alert: your two top projects made the list!):
Cottonwood Lake Preservation Society: Save Cottonwood Lake — $45,000
Dolores River Boating Advocates: Dolores River Canyon NCA Campaign Education and Outreach —$25,000
Environmental Law & Policy Center: Seizing Opportunities for New & Expanded National Wilderness Areas Designations — $50,000
Friends of the Owyhee: Protect Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands — $20,000
Grand Canyon Trust: Permanently Protecting the Grand Canyon Region from Uranium Mining — $25,000
Great Basin Water Network: Save the Swamp Cedars — $45,000
Gunks Climbers' Coalition: Millbrook Mountain Conservation Initiative: Ant Lion Crag — $20,000
Gwich'in Steering Committee: Gwich'in Steering Committee Support - Protecting the Coastal Plain — $50,000
Natural Resources Council of Maine: Saving Endangered Atlantic Salmon in Maine’s Kennebec River —$50,000
Oregon Desert Land Trust: Pueblos and Trout Creek Mountains Conservation Area — $50,000
Oregon Natural Desert Association: Owyhee Canyonlands Campaign — $50,000
Park County Environmental Council: Protecting the Wild and Sacred Lands of Montana’s Crazy Mountains — $40,000
San Juan Citizens Alliance: San Juan Mountains Wilderness — $40,000
The Wilderness Land Trust: North Cascades - Washington Wilderness Project — $35,000
Trout Unlimited: Anglers & Hunters for the Ruby Mountains — $40,000
Trust for Public Land: White Rocks & Otter Creek — $35,000
United Tribes of Bristol Bay: Protections for the Bristol Bay Watershed — $50,000
Wild Montana (Montana Wilderness Association): Wildlife and Recreation Protections for Iconic Montana Rivers — $45,000
Wilderness Workshop: Achieving Permanent Protection for the Thompson Divide — $35,000
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network: Women for Forests: Tongass Protection — $50,000
Wyoming Outdoor Council: Northern Red Desert Permanent Protection Campaign (Years 2 & 3) — $40,000
The following discretionary awards were granted by the Conservation Alliance board of directors to support the specific needs of important conservation projects.
Conserving Carolina: Bracken Preserve Addition — $10,000
Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project: Equitable Access & Public Participation — $10,000
Soda Mountain Wilderness Council: Protecting Cascade-Siskiyou — $10,000
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council: Keeping the Tongass Wild — $10,000
The Wilderness Society: Protect the Tongass — $10,000
Which project are you most excited about? Leave a comment and let us know!
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