HomeNewsOrvis 2013 Conservation Grants Today, Orvis announced four recipients of its annual Orvis Customer Matching Grants. This year’s grants are targeted to raise $430,000 or more for these projects, part of the company’s more than $1 million commitment to conservation and related causes this year. Orvis has awarded cash grants-used as matching funds to raise customer contributions up to equal amounts-to the following organizations: The Stop Pebble Mine campaign will be Orvis’ top conservation priority for 2013. “The Pebble Mine (in Bristol Bay, Alaska), if developed, would certainly become one of the worst environmental risks on the planet and would permanently scar one of America’s most majestic natural resources,” said Orvis CEO Perk Perkins. Orvis will partner with Trout Unlimited in their campaign to convince Washington and the EPA to block the Pebble Mine. Trout Unlimited, to continue collaboration on the Orvis/Trout Unlimited 1,000 Miles Campaign, which will reconnect 1,000 miles of streams throughout the United States over the next several years. The project will open up waterways through the repair or replacement of culverts – the passages that connect streams underneath roadways everywhere – which prevent fish from accessing vital upstream spawning habitat. “Dollar for dollar, repairing or replacing an impassable culvert is one of the best investments we can make in trout recovery,” said Orvis Vice Chairman David Perkins. The Petfinder Foundation, for its programs benefitting animal shelters and providing homes for rescued dogs across America. Another repeat, this program, whose goal is to ensure that no adoptable pet is euthanized for lack of a loving home, was so popular with Orvis customers that it exceeded its goal twice over in 2012. The Battersea Working Dogs Programme is Orvis’ first ever matching grant in the UK. This initiative continues a proud legacy of placing once-unwanted dogs into valuable service, training animals for police, security, rescue, medical and military assistance.
