Posted on 10/07/2004 1:43:16 PM PDT by Traci
Dear Fellow Americans:
We are business leaders in the outdoor industry and we have come together because we can no longer be silent. Outdoor businesses depend on abundant and available recreation opportunities so our customers can enjoy outdoor activities. In return, outdoor businesses employ over a million Americans, contribute $18 billion to the U.S. economy and work together to promote an active and healthy lifestyle to the 149 million Americans who love the great American outdoors.
In our opinion increasing the number of venues for active outdoor recreation, staunchly protecting the environment, bolstering recreation and conservation funding to our public land agencies and reducing health care costs go hand-in-hand. They are essential for the health and well being of the outdoor industry and its customers.
Senators John Kerry and John Edwards share our values and goals. They know that promoting active outdoor recreation promotes good health. They know that proactively protecting and supporting public lands for recreational use means future generations will enjoy them too. They know that improving the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink is not negotiable for any industry or business in America. They know that health care costs will continue to increase unless we are united in reducing obesity in America.
John Kerry and John Edwards are committed to preserving our national parks for the benefit of current and future generations. President Bush has promoted policies that break that commitment and endanger the future sustainability of our national parks. President Bush's policies have severely under-funded our national parks resulting in rampant understaffing, site closures, elimination of visitor education programs and neglected cultural and natural resource preservation, demonstrating indifference towards unsafe trails, unclear facilities and the growing shortage of safety staff.
As importantly, the Bush administration has rolled back basic environmental protections that undermine parks including:
Rolling back Clean Air Act requirements that ensure visibility and healthy visits to our national parks; Eliminating federal protections for our public lands that will allow mining, logging and development in national forests; Slashing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which enables the National Park Service to acquire new land and protect and enhance existing parks facilities. In contrast John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan to protect the scenic landscapes and vistas for the appreciation of future generations through rigorous enforcement of clean air and water regulations and will preserve the resources that embody our cultural heritage through committed funding for parks operations by:
Increasing the operating budget of the National Park Service by $600 million will put our parks back on the path toward recovery and restoration. We will pay for this important objective by modernizing the sale of mineral rights and using the revenue generated to increase the operating budgets of our national parks. We know that Senator Kerry is a champion on the environmental issues that are central to our industry and customers. We also believe that Senator Kerry's economic and health care policies will keep our businesses competitive and health care affordable.
Therefore, we the undersigned are proud to endorse Senator Kerry as the next President of the United States.
Sincerely,
Lee Fromson, president, Cascade Designs (Seattle, WA)
Peter Bragden, vice president, general counsel, Columbia Sportswear (Portland, Oregon)
Menno Van Wyk, CEO, Montrail (Seattle, WA)
Paul Fish, president, Mountain Gear (Spokane, WA)
Carn Nielsen, vice president, Mountain Gear (Spokane, WA)
Dan Nordstrom, CEO, Outdoor Research (Seattle, WA)
Jeff Bowman, vice president, Cascade Designs (Seattle, WA)
Doug Phillips, president, Metolius Climbing (Bend, OR)
Tim Leatherman, president, Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. (Portland, OR)
Dunham Gooding, president, American Alpine Institute, Ltd (Bellingham, WA)
Larry Harrison, president, Earth Games (San Clemente, CA)
Jim Clark, CEO, Watermark (Arcata, CA)
Steve Barker, CEO, Eagle Creek Travel Gear (San Diego, CA)
Peter Metcalf, CEO, Black Diamond (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Ashley Korenblat, president, Western Spirit Cycling (Moab, Utah)
Mike Wallenfels, vice president, Mountain Hardware (Richmond, CA)
Roody Rasmussen, CEO, Petzl America (Clearfield, UT)
Tony Post, president, Vibram (Concord, MA)
Kelly Stone, director sales and marketing, Werner Paddles (Seattle, WA)
Joe Hyer, president, Alpine Experience (Olympia, WA)
Mike Sullivan, president, Sullivan Agency (Wimberley, TX)
Bob Olsen, president, Peregrine Outfitters (Williston, VT)
Michael Crooke, CEO, Patagonia (Ventura, CA)
Brian Bennett, director national accounts, Patagonia (Ventura, CA)
Adam Forest, managing partner, The Forest Group (Lotus, CA)
Gordon Seabury, president, Horny Toad Activewear (Santa Barbara, CA)
Paul Gagner, vice president, Gregory Mountain Products (Temecula, CA)
Tom Campion, founder and chairman, Zumiez Inc. (Everett, WA)
Malcolm Daly, president, Trango (Boulder, CO)
Rodney Smith, president, American Outdoor Products (Boulder, CO)
Joan Keller, president, Le Travel Store (San Diego, CA)
Dang. One of the best winter coats I ever bought was a Columbia. Looks like I'll have to find a different brand.
Talk about a major tofu-farting party! Being at that press conference would have made my leather boots whimper and cry!
Most of these companies sell cloths/equipment to rich, elitist types who climb mountains, ski, rappel, eco-tourist, etc. usually using their parent's money or inherited money. (not all, but that is the stereotype).
No big deal, I would never have bought anything from them anyways. I have my Cabelas and Bass Pro Shop catalogs. That's all any real sportsman or woman needs. :-)
exactly what the limosine rich want....
They want you and me peon peasant to ride buses thru the National Parks while they can afford to helicopter in or hike in, since most of them have no jobs or rich jobs where money or time is of little concern...
its like the Sherwood Forest....we peasants can't go in...
And Freepers aren't just as knee jerk on this? C'mon! Every week there are calls to boycot this or that because someone doens't like someone else's opinions. Geeze!
I am an avid outdoorsman, hunter, fisherman, etc. I live in North Idaho. Take a look at the location of all of these companies. Every single one of them are in highly liberal areas of the country. Glad to see they posted their company names and locations so I can print them out and boycott their products. I recommend everyone do the same. We up here in the extreme nothwest are under a considerable greater threat to our way of life by liberal environmentalists than the Bush/Cheney administration.
I just went to leatherman.com and punched in Customer Service (I think it went to Marketing, even better) and sent the email.
Sorry, I'd post a link but I'm tech-challenged.
I had the "super" leatherman and lost it. Bought a Gerber and liked it but broke the knife blade. Honestly, I had a Wave in my hand at Wallyworld the other day, and made up my mind to go back and get it. Sure glad I waited, I won't support them with my $$$ now.
But then I'm a horizontal recreator
The list read's like a Who's Who of liberal wannabe "outdoors men".
P.S. Anybody that would buy a pocket tool from Leatherman or knapsack from Eagle Creek, isn't really an outdoorsman. They're a yuppie with a hobby.
I suppose I'm glad that I at least have a good, American, Republican vendor for sports packs, duffles, and cave suits! Now to find them for the rest of what we use...
Maybe so. It does seem to be increasingly us vs. them. However, I am free to not buy a John Cougar Melonhead ticket, and I'm free to buy the multi-tool of my choice.
Ya know, if it was Lieberman as the candidate they were supporting, and ol' Joe was running a decent, honest campaign, then I wouldn't hesitate to continue business. But they back a traitorous left-wing sack of sh!t, so I ain't giving them my dough.. okey day?
its our business to support people that support our view of things...its the American way...and we don't support leftist chickens like Kerry....
but let's face it....being pro- American made and being from hunting heritage, I know that a good Leatherman goes with the territory....
and to learn that the massive number of hunters who have supported Tim Leatherman even though we could have bought those Chinese versions, well, its just a back-of-the-hand to the head.....
let's just MOVE ON and MOVE AWAY from these commies....
It struck me as odd that the "Outdoor Industry Association" would endorse ANY candidate, much less a democrat. Then I noticed the states where the majority of them are from. Still, why would they risk alienating RED STATES? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!
If you notice, however, although the press release is posted on the OIA website, it is carefully worded - this is an endorsement by THESE 30 EXECUTIVES (out of a total of 4000 OIA members). At the bottom of the release, it even says that OIA does not endorse candidates or political parties!
I would imagine that there are a lot of OIA members that would be fuming if they knew that these 30 idiots had this posted on the OIA website.
Maybe we should each pick one of our favorite member companies who DID NOT sign the endorsement and let them know that their association has been hijacked by liberal wackos. And thank them for not following the 30 lemmings.
http://www.outdoorindustry.org/webnews.archive.php?date=2004-09-14
http://www.outdoorindustry.org/about.memberlist.php
p.s. - I think Gerber is owned by Fiskars, in Finland. Although I would rather buy American, after seeing that email above, I'll tell Leatherman where he can stick his multi-tool.
You maybe should take a copy of Tim Leatherman's statement with you to show them. Maybe they don't know what is going on with him.
I have more Gerber than Leatherman items. And I wouldn't buy Smith and Wesson when they rolled over to the opposing poltical gun grabbing agenda.
But geeze, every day I have someone telling me what I can and can't watch on TV (not that it matters), what I can and can't eat, where and where I can't shop, etc etc etc!
A relative was on a Buy American kick for a while. So I aksed where I could get an American TV. Or should I get an American built Toyota or a Mexican/Canadian built Ford?
Sure, Ben and Jerry's cater to liberals and their causes and I'm not sure I've even tasted their stuff.
But why should I wear clothes that don't fit right when Dockers (made by Levi Straus who allegedly support some homo causes) fit perfectly?
You certainly have the freedom to spend your money as you see fit and I'm not like the boycotters who are going to tell you otherwise.
We all have to make a living. I've got a kid that's an attorney. And I have no influence over her.
We all do our best for eighteen years . . .
Mine's in broadcast media. At least she's on our side, but its really tough on her.
I just watched "Brokenjaw" on NBC (know thy enemy) do a report on Caleba and how Bush (3x) and Cheney (1x) held town hall type meetings in several of their stores. He mentioned sKerry was thinking about doing one as well.
The report went on to say how all these stores are in key election states and are very important to the campaigns. Even showed a bumper sticker for Sportsmen for Bush.
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