Outdoor Brands Ramp Up Environmental Advocacy

Retailers attending last week’s Outdoor Retailer and Snow Show trade show gathered to discuss how they could impact public policy to protect public lands. Organizers of the show announced the formation of the Outdoor Business Climate Partnership to lobby for state and federal climate policies.

Many outdoor retailers have voiced their displeasure with the Trump Administration when it pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord two years ago. Since then, however, they’ve taken action by way of advertising campaigns designed to shift public opinion, and some, like Patagonia (Ventura, Calif.) have even endorsed public officials running for office who align with their viewpoints on environmental issues, according to the Associated Press.

During the government shutdown last month, Columbia (Portland, Ore.) took out a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post that read, “Make America’s parks open again.”

“These national brands have a reach that nonprofit advocates could only dream of, and they have been using that megaphone in a really effective way to remind people of this issue,” said Kayje Booker, of the Montana Wilderness Association.