REI's support of conservation is deep and long term. Efforts began formally in the early 1970s with the founding of a community service project program and annual giving program. Both efforts began humbly our first giving budget was about $12,000 and the first service project took a school bus full of REI members and employees to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state for a trail project. As the co-op has grown, so too have the impacts of our work.

Supporting conservation takes many forms, including:

• Actively celebrating and promoting volunteerism in support of hands-on work to enhance recreational opportunities
• Advocating for critical conservation issues
• Cultivating the next generation of community stewards and outdoor advocates

In 2006 REI pursued two special programs that deepened our commitment to stewardship. We created a special $1 million parks grant program to help enhance local recreation opportunities in 100 REI communities, and we put service in action by addressing the devastation faced at Mount Rainier National Park by winter flooding by leveraging the co-op's financial, staff and member resources