As an outdoor company, our roots are set deep in our wild lands. Our favorite places to hike, ski and climb are the very places that inspire us to create our packs. With Summer Outdoor Retailer madness upon us, we’re psyched to be a supporting member of the Conservation Alliance. The Alliance is a is a group of outdoor industry companies that give back to the outdoors by disbursing its collective annual membership dues to grassroots conservation groups.

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Conservation, Events, Osprey Culture Conservation, Conservation Alliance, or show, Outdoor Retailer

“I have never worked so hard at gardening!” That’s the thought that kept running through my head this last weekend as I worked beside my husband and new friends, Matt Brownlee and Kyrstan Hubbell.

As an employee at Osprey Packs we have many opportunities to volunteer. This trip was about working with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative and The Conservation Alliance. We spent the weekend doing trail restoration on Mount Yale in the San Isabel Wilderness area. This fun-filled weekend started with “commuting” to the work site at 6:00 a.m. and arriving to our basecamp about an hour and a half later. Did I mention it was all uphill? Once there, we learned how to transplant plugs of grass and install waddles across the trail to prevent further erosion on this closed trail. It didn’t seem like it would be that hard of work, but at 13,000 feet, I was moving slow and definitely felt the lack of oxygen in the air.

Once we had fulfilled our commitment, we took some time to summit Mount Yale, which was my first summit of a 14′er! From the top we could see the work we had done the last two days. Though it was only a very small section in a project that is now in it’s fourth year, it felt good to know that we had a small hand in it’s completion. I have a new respect for the people who choose this type of work as a career. It’s anything but easy! This was an awesome new experience for
my husband and me.

Why not give it a try? Visit www.14ers.org to learn how!

Katie Koppenhafer works at Osprey HQ in Cortez, Colo.

Conservation, Osprey Culture, Outdoor Activities, Southwest Colorado, causes Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, Conservation, restoration

The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) is organizing a last minute restoration project on Mount Yale this weekend and are in search of volunteers!

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Conservation, Events, Southwest Colorado, causes Colorado, Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, Conservation

The Arctic is one of the most beautiful and forbidding places on Earth, where temperatures regularly plunge well below zero and the time between sunset and sunrise is sometimes measured in months rather than hours. Despite these difficult conditions, a variety of people and animals have adapted to thrive at the top of the world. The Arctic is home to many of our nation’s most iconic wildlife species: polar bears, walrus, ice seals, bowhead whales, beluga whales and more. Facing pressures of climate change and industrialization, a bottleneck for survival has been created in the Arctic Ocean, ultimately threatening wildlife and putting Arctic community’s subsistence way of life at risk.

These same conditions are also a recipe for disaster in the inevitable event of an offshore drilling accident.
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Conservation, Osprey Culture arctic, Conservation, oil drilling

A new uranium mining boom is threatening further harm to the people, water, wildlands and biodiversity of the Grand Canyon region.

The Obama administration is considering a plan that would protect up to 1 million acres of the Grand Canyon’s watersheds from new uranium mining. But only one of the alternatives they’re considering — Alternative B — affords protections across the entire 1 million acre watershed.

What can you do?

1. Knowledge is power. Watch the video and learn why we need to use our voice to speak up for the Grand Canyon right NOW.

2. Share the love! Post this video on your FB, Twitter or blogs. Tell your friends, neighbors, family what’s up.

3. Take action! Send a letter of support to the Obama administration urging them to stand firm and protect the Grand Canyon from nasty uranium mining.

May 4th is the last day the government will be accepting public comments, so please act today!

Conservation, Osprey Culture, causes Conservation, Craig Childs, grand canyon, james Q martin, southwest, take action, uranium mining, video, wilderness

Sam's Weminuche flower garden

Osprey’s Outdoor Marketing Manager Sam Mix should get an award for his green efforts. From my perspective, he seems to have single-handedly created the Osprey Green Team — a group of volunteer employees that look to always improve the companies’ sustainability efforts.

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Conservation, Osprey Athletes, Osprey Culture Alison Gannett, Conservation, energy, environment, Green, Green Team, Osprey Packs, Sam Mix, Team Member Impact Reduction

© James Q Martin

“If the mine poisons our water, it will be the end of my people.” — Carletta Tilousi, Havasupai Tribal Council member

For more than 25 years, international mining companies have aggressively pursued uranium deposits in and around the Grand Canyon. The Havasupai Tribe, other First Nations, conservationists and citizens of Northern Arizona have joined forces to inform the surrounding community of the dangers and everlasting health effects caused by uranium mining.

Past uranium activity has caused direct health affects to the local First Nations communities living in and around the Grand Canyon region. For instance, many Navajo families have been diagnosed with many types of cancer because of the abandoned uranium mines located all over the Navajo Reservation. The proposed uranium mines on the rim of the Grand Canyon are located directly above the Havasupai Tribe’s groundwater source and near their sacred site at Red Butte and the uranium mining companies have proposed to transport uranium directly through First Nations and other communities

© James Q Martin

in Northern Arizona.

TAKE ACTION HERE.

via Treehugger:

It is approaching time for the Bureau of Land Management to once again consider whether or not to allow bids for uranium mining on more than one million acres of land near the Grand Canyon. The two-year moratorium that is now set to expire was a challenge to win in the first place, and lobbyists are putting the pressure on to let the mining begin.

A 20-year ban is under consideration, but there are doubts that it is a serious option.

Prior to the moratorium, BLM had already authorized uranium exploration despite a congressional resolution the year before that barred new claims near the park, and the issue continued to be a controversial one even during the moratorium.

Other recent BLM decisions in the West do not lend much confidence that the agency prioritizes protection and conservation over exploration.

If the federal government doesn’t renew the ban, writes social action site Avaaz, “a ‘Uranium Rush’ of mining would permanently scar the face of this unique and priceless land, devastate local communities, and endanger water supplies for millions who live nearby.”

A public outcry helped secure the embargo last time, and thanks to a wave of citizen outcry last week, the deadline for public comment has just been extended through May 4. Write comments to urge Secretary Salazar and the Obama administration to protect the Grand Canyon and extend that protection for the full one million acres of land for at least the next 20 years.

Thanks to First Nations communities, The Grand Canyon Trust, The Sierra Club and local conservationists and citizens for leading the charge.

TAKE ACTION HERE.

Conservation, Osprey Culture, Southwest Colorado, causes Conservation, first nations, grand canyon, mining, protection, take action, wilderness

Mountainfilm Tour 2011 Elks Theater, April 1-2

By: Markus Jobman, Osprey Adventure Envoy Team

Once in a while you need to step back, pause and re-boot. Look at the world around you and the everyday life that each of us lives. It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day craziness. We get busy with careers, friends, obligations and adventures — and sometimes we forget to just stop and see what is going on and really enjoy what is around us.

This past weekend we took a break. We attended Mountainfilm on Tour. It is a celebration of what is around us: life, adventure, nature, mountains and the thrill of enjoying it. We attended the tour in our home town of Rapid City. For the third year in a row, Mountainfilm’s tour event acted as a fundraiser for the Rapid City Urban Orchard Project, an organization that works with the Department of Parks and Recreation to plant apple trees in green spaces throughout the city and organizes volunteers to care for them after they are planted.

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Events, Osprey Adventure Envoys, Osprey Culture, adventure, causes adventure, Adventure Chronicles, climate change, Climbing, Colorado, Conservation, Events, film, inspiration, Markus Jobman, mountain biking, mountaineering, mountainfilm, mountains, North Face, Osprey Packs, patagonia

We’re excited about the latest round of Mountainfilm guest speakers to be announced. In keeping with the 2011 Moving Mountains Symposium theme of “Awareness into Action,” the series of special guests announced last week, “have all committed their lives to rolling up their sleeves and making a serious difference in the world,” Festival Director David Holbrooke said.

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Events, Osprey Culture, Southwest Colorado, causes aaron huey, Canada, causes, Colorado, Conservation, first nations, great bear rainforest, mountainfilm, oil, southwest, take action, the pine ridge billboard project, the yes men, wildlife

via Elephant Journal:

More than 100,000 nature reserves or parks exist across the globe today to protect the world’s most beautiful places and important wildlife. Many assume that these parks ensure the protection of wildlife and habitats, but reports from the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimate that up to 70% of the world’s parks are failing to do their job — these parks have come to be known as “paper parks”. With little to no on-the-ground protection, funding for park rangers or even signs to outline park borders, these parks are literally just lines drawn on a map. In Asia, and in particular Indonesia, the problem is critical — the illegal wildlife trade is rampant and rates of deforestation are the highest in the world.

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Conservation, Osprey Culture, adventure adventure, Asia, Conservation, take action, travel, wildlife