Missoula Clinics and Events

REI Gives: 2009 Missoula Grant Recipients

2009

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Annually, REI dedicates a portion of its operating profits to help protect and restore the environment, increase access to outdoor activities, and encourage involvement in responsible outdoor recreation. REI employees nominate organizations, projects, and programs in which they are personally involved to receive funding or gear donations. For more information on REI grants, click here.

Adventure Cycling Association
Established in 1974, Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) has evolved into the largest bicycle membership organization in the U.S. By reaching new populations and communities, their membership has grown to nearly 45,000. They help cyclists explore the landscapes and history of America by creating bike routes across and throughout the country. In the coming year, ACA will undertake the mapping work to create what could be one of the most iconic bicycling routes in North America -- a paved route tracing the Pacific Crest. The route will be an approximately 2,400-mile, road-based journey, stretching from the Canadian-Washington State border through the Cascade Mountain Range into Oregon and southward through the Sierra Nevada Range in California to the Tehachapi and San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California and on to the Mexican border. They chose this route because of its proximity to many major urban cities, numerous requests from cyclists across America for such a route, its amazing scenic vistas, its extraordinary history; and of course, the exhilarating challenge of the terrain for the bicycle traveler. The combination of the popular Pacific Coast Bicycle Route and a new paved route near the Pacific Crest will create an epic loop and will entice even more people to travel by bicycle.

Montana Natural History Center
The Montana Natural History Center is partnering with the Missoula Children and Nature Network's (MCNN) 2010 "Got Nature?" Passport Program to provide engaging nature-based programs for youth and their families on a monthly basis. By collaborating with many businesses, agencies, and non-profit organizations in the community, MCNN will offer events throughout the year that include outdoor recreation and education components and environmental stewardship opportunities while familiarizing participants with the natural areas, parks, and play spaces in the Missoula area. REI's grant will provide resources that will be used to promote participation in the program and advertise program events.

Montana Wilderness Association
The Montana Wilderness Association (MWA) seeks to increase the relevance of Wilderness in the lives of Missoula's young adults. Focusing on reaching college students and recent graduates, the MWA will recruit college students and build participation in fun, educational and rewarding wilderness education activities and outings. Students will assume leadership roles in organizing events and trips and introducing new students to wilderness involvement. REI's grant will provide resources for promoting the program as well as
providing food, transportation and gear to support students on wilderness outings.

Yaak Valley Forest Council
With assistance from the US Forest Service and numerous other partners, the Yaak Valley Forest Council will turn a decommissioned road into a non-motorized trail in some of the wildest country in the Yaak Valley. REI's grant will provide YVFC with the resources to implement much needed trail maintenance (fallen tree and rock removal, tread work, etc.) and assess other needs such as native plant revegetation at the streams where culverts were previously removed, while also assessing opportunities for developing the project area as an
outdoor classroom in conjunction with our Conservation Education Program. Grant funds will specifically support project coordination and will provide participants with tools and equipment to accomplish their objectives.