Danielle Graham
Do you remember when you first fell in love with the outdoors? As the middle of five children growing up on Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire in the 70s, I was encouraged to play outside all day. The water was so clean that we drank straight from the lake. I realized from a young age the importance of having close access to the outdoors for body and mind.
Those early experiences inspired me to pursue an education and career in natural resource management, and ultimately led me to The Mountaineers. I met so many enthusiastic leaders in my first Mountaineers courses: Introduction to the Natural World, Backcountry Snowshoeing, and Scrambling. I was impressed with how the volunteer leaders managed to juggle fun, safety, education, and inclusiveness.
Now, as a volunteer, I’ve witnessed first-hand how The Mountaineers serve as a bridge from recreation to conservation. Our education programs first support this journey by helping folks get outside safely and responsibly. From there, we educate on the importance of advocacy and inspire on issues that threaten our beloved landscapes.
Our community wants to be informed and empowered to do more, and we need your support to make this possible. The Mountaineers advocacy team makes sure we are educated and notified to bring our voice to these issues. Public lands outcomes are something that our committed community can - and does - positively impact. Thousands of us depend on these year-round communications, action alerts, and the books we publish that educate and inspire us to protect millions of acres of our beloved wild places.
Charitable donations support 75% of The Mountaineers conservation work, and this work relies on donors like me and you to sustain and enhance these resources.
I make gifts to The Mountaineers because I care about our wild places, and they amplify my voice on regional and federal lands issues that matter to me. I also value that The Mountaineers hold strong partnerships with other effective conservation organizations like the Outdoor Alliance and Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. Through these partnerships we are able to leverage our work and voice on key issues like The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).
Please consider making a gift today in support of the future of our public lands.
As an outdoor community, we played a large role in permanently reauthorizing the LWCF for the benefit of trailheads, parks, river put-ins, and climbing areas. Efforts like these are critical because they protect green spaces of all sizes from local parks to national parks and everything in between. But really, the public lands heroes are the donors who make this good work possible.
No matter the size, your gift will make a difference toward the conservation of our wild places. Please join me in making your year-end gift today.
P.S. As Mountaineers, we connect people to place and we leverage that connection to the importance of advocacy. People protect the places they love and that connection drives people to take action. That’s why we believe members and donors like you will be the solution to the challenges ahead.
Make your unrestricted year-end gift today by visiting mountaineers.org/yearendgift.
