More Outdoor Equipment Vendors (or: 'It isn't just Leatherman')

Cascade Designs, Inc. ^ | September 14, 2004

[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)

[dd5339]

And so begins the great Leatherman, (and others) Jihad!

Semper Fi

[Buzwardo]

I received the following from Columbia Sportsware after emailing them a letter of complaint:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Columbia Sportswear and share your concerns regarding a recent article about executives offering presidential candidate support.

Please let me assure that Columbia Sportswear is a bi-partisan and public company that doesn’t affiliate with political candidates or organizations. However, as an outdoor company we are concerned with outdoor issues that effect the environment and our consumer’s ability to enjoy the outdoors. Therefore, we’ve ensured that Columbia representatives have been in attendance during each candidate’s visit to the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, the article that announced our support for the Kerry campaign was a misprint and should have only announced personal support for Kerry on behalf of Peter Bragdon – a company executive. In addition, it should be noted that other company executives including our CEO and President, Tim Boyle have personally supported the Bush campaign both verbally and monetarily. In conclusion, Columbia Sportswear did not and will not endorse a candidate for President of the United States.

Thanks again for you inquiry and the opportunity to respond to your concerns. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns regarding Columbia Sportswear or our products.

Best wishes,

Kim Schamp
Public Relations Specialist II
503.985.4833 FAX 503.985.5959

[dd5339]

Ping for post 62!

Semper Fi

[eaglesiniowa]

No problem, thanks for coming back. I will send them an earful today.

[Vic3O3]

Good to see Columbia has a corporate brain & got an email drawn up quick! Gonna call Werner & see what's up there...and Mountain Hardware.

[Vic3O3]

If you call Werner, they will xfer you to her (Kelly Stone) voicemail. Phone rep said he thought her endorsement did not represent a Corporate endorsement of a political candidate. They apparently didn't know anything about it at the phone desk...
Werner Paddles
General Sales and Service
info@wernerpaddles.com
800 275-3311
F 360 793-7343

[CaptRon]

Yeah. I can just see John and John discussing their campaign over a small fire at their campsite in the wilderness, far from the distractions of wealthy wives and ambulances.

[Vic3O3]

Spoke to Brian at Mountain Hardware and he said that he feels it was an unofficial corporate endorsement of the Kerry Edwards campaign. I informed him that due to that, we would be disposing of all our MH gear and purchasing the gear of bipartisan/non-endorsing companies. He said "Ok."
Mountain Hardware
For additional questions or comments about Mountain Hardwear, you may contact us directly:

info@mountainhardwear.com

800.953.8375
9am to 3pm PST (Monday - Friday)
Mountain Hardwear
Consumer Relations
4911 Central Ave
Richmond, CA 94804

[Aquinasfan]

These are the spandex type industries.

Touche.

[HonorInPa]

Kim needs an editor...

second line uses "effect" instead of the correct "affect"

[Buzwardo]

Yep. My guess is she was writing kinda fast; my guess is they heard from their share of irate customers.