Hyke & Byke Joins the Conservation Alliance

As Hyke & Byke has grown over the past few years, we’ve often asked ourselves, “How can we make more of an impact in our communities?” Since the beginning, we’ve done a lot of work through Kiva to provide microloans to aspiring entrepreneurs in developing countries.

But lately, we’ve started to see how much work there is to do right here in the United States. Wild spaces are shrinking as human populations expand; great forests and bodies of waters are under constant threat from climate change, pollution, and development; and the outdoor spaces we rely on for recreation are increasingly losing government protections. Not to mention widespread biodiversity loss.

So this year, in addition to stepping up our giving to the National Park Foundation, we’ve also joined the Conservation Alliance.

Founded in 1989, the Conservation Alliance pools the resources of more than 250 companies in the outdoor industry with the goal of doing some real good at the grassroots level to protect habitats and outdoor recreation areas in North America.

According to its website, the Alliance has worked to help save more than 73 million acres of wildlands, protect 3,576 miles of rivers, stop or remove 37 dams, designate five marine reserves, and purchase 18 climbing areas. To date, they’ve awarded more than $25,000,000 in grants to 211 organizations and they’re just getting started.

We’re happy to play our small part to help ensure that many of the outdoor spaces we enjoy today will make it to tomorrow.

We vote twice a year on which community-level conservation efforts should get funding. So stay tuned for more on what’s going on. And if you have an organization near you fighting to conserve wild habitats or outdoor recreation spaces, give us the details! Maybe we can get in a nomination.

About The Conservation Alliance: Protecting Wild Places for #OurWildFuture from Conservation Alliance on Vimeo.

Cover image credit: USFWS