What happens when the companies that outfit our adventures decide to stand up for the places that make those adventures possible?
This week on The Wild Idea, we’re exploring the growing power of outdoor brands to influence public land policy.
We’re joined by Paul Hendricks, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance, and Vince Mazzuca, Director of Marketing at Osprey, to talk about the role of the business community in conservation. Together, they offer a powerful look at how brands are using their voice and their dollars to push back on efforts to privatize or exploit public lands and waters.
You’ll hear how The Conservation Alliance grew from a backroom meeting between four iconic companies (Patagonia, REI, The North Face, and Kelty) to a national coalition of more than 200 businesses working together to defend wild places. And you’ll learn why Osprey decided to take its support to the next level by becoming a Pinnacle Member and helping to launch the new Brands for Public Lands initiative.
Today, we explore:
- How the Conservation Alliance works, from grassroots grants to national advocacy to strategic media campaigns
- The rise of the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy and how that data is shifting policy conversations in D.C.
- Why brands like Osprey are going all in on conservation and how that decision plays out inside a company
- The latest fight over public land sell-offs and how the Alliance is organizing resistance
- The myth of partisanship and why public lands still hold unique bipartisan potential
- The underestimated risk of silence in the outdoor industry’s response to political threats
- The long game of narrative change and how shifting cultural stories is just as important as winning short-term policy fights
- Why local business voices matter and how state outdoor recreation offices and regional alliances are fueling momentum
- Real wins, from Alaska’s D-1 protections to Tennessee wilderness to new national monuments
This episode is about more than backpacks and budgets. It’s about what it means for companies to lead with values, how conservation can be a cultural bridge in divided times, and why the places we love need all of us—citizens, brands, and communities—fighting in alignment.
If you’ve ever wondered how the outdoor gear in your garage connects to the policy fights playing out in Congress, this one’s for you.
🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, or at thewildidea.com.
Connect with Today's Guests
Paul Hendricks is the Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance. He has more than 15 years of experience working at the intersection of conservation, corporate sustainability, and environmental advocacy, with past roles at Patagonia and Rivian. He’s also taught at UC Berkeley and the University of Colorado, focusing on how business can drive positive environmental and social impact. Paul lives in Golden, Colorado, where he spends as much time as he can running, climbing, and exploring public lands with his wife and two kids.
Vince Mazzuca is the Director of Marketing at Osprey. With over 18 years of experience working with brands in the outdoor industry, he has built a career by combining his personal passion for outdoor recreation and conservation advocacy with a professional focus on building brands, teams and relationships. In all his roles, he has worked for brands who are member companies of The Conservation Alliance. He also volunteers with The Futurist Project, a 6-month program seeking to prepare, unite and amplify diverse voices of the next generation of leaders in the outdoor industry. Connect with Vince on LinkedIn HERE.
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The Wild Idea is independently produced by Wild Idea Media. If you believe conversations like this matter, you can help us keep them going by subscribing, leaving a review, sharing the episode, or signing up for our newsletter at thewildidea.com. Together, we can protect what connects us.
I believe there’s been a significant misrepresentation in this debate. While we all agree on protecting environmentally sensitive lands for clean watersheds, wildlife, and recreation, the recent amendments weren’t about selling prime recreational areas to private interests for debt reduction.
The proposed sell in Utah, initially, was a transfer of federal lands to state and local governments—they would remain public lands, just managed locally. Many of these parcels are non-environmentally sensitive urban or border areas that could better serve housing and infrastructure needs without compromising conservation goals. Most were literally EXISTING roadways. As someone living in the affected area, I can attest to this distinction.
Representatives Malloy and Lee may have failed to communicate this clearly, and including it in the omnibus bill was poor strategy. However, I hope we can move beyond reflexive opposition to any federal land changes toward thoughtful discussion about which lands truly belong in the “never transfer” category versus those that might be better managed by state and local public entities, or in limited cases, private or non-profit ownership.
The goal should be nuanced policy that distinguishes between protecting irreplaceable natural areas and making smart use of unused and unmanaged federal land holdings.