As senior manager of sustainability at KEEN, I spend most days working within our supply chain to reduce the footprint of our shoes. But, once a year, I get to make an impact well beyond our own operations.
That’s when I join The Conservation Alliance (TCA) on the Hill in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the protection of our public lands. I just returned from this year’s trip – three days filled with training, meetings, and debriefs while we criss-cross from the House to the Senate and back again. I joined 28 representatives from 22 other brands across the outdoor industry to make the business case for conservation.
We advocated for many critical issues, including defending the Roadless Rule, supporting the continued responsible management of National Monuments, and asking what we can do about situations like the recent vote to overturn a 20-year mining ban in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. We took meetings across both sides the aisle and were met with compassion and understanding of our concerns. I was lucky enough to be in a group that met with 3 senators and 1 representative, giving us the opportunity to speak directly to the person making a potential critical vote in the future.
The Conservation Alliance has been organizing trips to DC for the past 15 years. As the leading business coalition for conservation, they know the impact that having real employees from distinguished brands making the economic case for conservation can have. While we may all be experts in our businesses, we’re not necessarily experts in the nitty gritty details of conservation policy. Thankfully, TCA organizes a full day of training for us to get familiar with the issues and understand how our many meetings will run. We get the chance to hear from current staffers, previous policy makers, and other non-profits working toward the same goals. This day gets us excited to hit the Hill early the next morning, armed with knowledge and passion.
"We’ve been working to protect public lands for over 20 years and know that if we lose these lands, we never get them back."
On the Hill, meetings happen in 30-minute increments, often back-to-back. We prep our talking points and ensure we’re clear on our asks for each congressional member. TCA had five groups working for two days, which allowed us to take a collective 65 meetings on Capitol Hill. This is a critical time for conservation discussions in D.C. We asked that funding and resources for land management agencies be maintained, that we protect against large scale public lands sell-offs, and that we protect some of our more precious natural places like the arctic refuge.
After an exhilarating (and exhausting) week in D.C., I left feeling extremely grateful for the opportunity to use my and KEEN’s voice for advocacy. There are so many important issues, but conservation feels close to home for KEEN. We’ve been working to protect public lands for over 20 years and know that if we lose these lands, we never get them back.
