---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From: Donald C. Amador, 112531,1311

TO: CamelBak, webmaster@camelbak.com
DATE: 3/14/01 6:10 AM

RE: Copy of: Throwing away my CamelBak because of green agenda

March 14, 2001

sent via FAX, email, and US Mail

CamelBak Products
1310 Redwood Way Ste. 200
Petaluma, CA 94954
FAX 707.665.9231
Email:webmaster@camelbak.com

RE: CamelBak Support for Businesses for Wilderness

Dear CamelBak:
I was greatly disappointed to read --- www.orca.org -- where CamelBak's vice president, Sky George, is involved in a join venture with Pew Charitable Trusts, The Wilderness Society, and the Trade Association for Outdoor Recreation to aggressively fund and promote the former Clinton administration's "roadless" effort. As an outdoorsman and off-road trail rider, I have fought long and hard against the roadless initiative because it does not  "protect" the environment.

7 different state fish and game departments have written that Clinton's 60 million acre roadless effort would devastate critical habitat and negatively impact important game animal populations. The Forest Service Employees Union (a member of the AFL-CIO) said that the roadless program was bad news for this nation's timberlands and wildlife.

I have a personal policy of not using the products from companies that support the radical closure agenda of the Wilderness Society, the Blue Water Network, and other anti-access groups. For many years, I have used CamelBak products. After I finish writing this letter, I will be going into my garage and cutting off the CamelBak hydration system mounted on my chest-protector and dispose of it in the waste container.

When my son comes home from college, I will show him this information and let him decide it he wants to do the same. I am sorry that it has had to come down to this, but I must act after the California Wilderness Coalition's recent hit piece on motorized recreation -- a report that even some mainstream journalists have said was a punch below the belt.

I hope that CamelBak will reconsider its involvement with this new effort called Businesses for Wilderness. An effort that clearly has painted a target on the backs of millions of responsible users of public lands.

Sincerely,
/s/ DON AMADOR
Don Amador
Outdoorsman and Trail Rider

cc:Resource Education Network

Taken from http://www.orca.org/news/012701.html before it was deleted from ORCA's servers on the morning of Friday, March 16th, 2001: ORCA ESTABLISHES WILDERNESS INITIATIVE WITH $1 MILLION GRANT FROM PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS

Comprehensive two-year effort will protect roadless areas; Funding enables extensive local and national outreach.

BOULDER, Colo. (January 27, 2001) - ORCA, the trade association for the $5 billion outdoor industry, today announced it will launch Businesses for Wilderness (B4W). Businesses for Wilderness was initiated in collaboration with the Pew Charitable Trusts and is being supported with a $1 million grant from the Philadelphia-based philanthropy. The coalition will be the first project of the newly formed Outdoor Recreation Foundation. The initiative has three specific goals: to protect currently unprotected roadless areas on federal lands, shift the management and budgetary focus of federal public lands toward protecting natural resources, and to educate the public and policy makers on the benefits of outdoor recreation.

"This is a remarkable day for ORCA," said Frank Hugelmeyer, president of ORCA.

"The Pew Charitable Trusts has long been regarded as one of the nation's most effective advocates for protecting old growth forests and other critical habitat on federal lands. Pew's support of the B4W will not only enable ORCA to expand its role in protecting publicly owned roadless areas, but also, enable ORCA to execute regional and local outreach, as it has never done before. This grant reaffirms the wishes of the greater majority of our membership that recently designated protecting roadless areas a priority. We are extremely grateful to the Pew Charitable Trusts for their leadership in making this happen and look forward to a long-term partnership."

"This partnership with ORCA is consistent with our goal of permanently protecting old growth and wilderness areas in the United States," said Joshua Reichert, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts Environment Program.

"Our choice to work with ORCA was an easy one. ORCA is an outstanding organization comprised of the most respected companies and business leaders in the outdoor industry. The B4W will go a long way towards protecting some of the nation's most spectacular places, areas that are critically important to the future prosperity of America's outdoor industry."

B4W will be housed at ORCA's offices in Boulder. It will be managed by a steering committee of outdoor business leaders chaired by Myrna Johnson, ORCA's vice president of government affairs and headed by a director who is expected to be named by April 2001.

The committee will represent the broad human-powered recreation business community.

Sally McCoy, chairperson of the ORCA Board and president of Sierra Designs, said, "This support from the Pew Charitable Trusts creates an opportunity for the outdoor recreation community to rally around a central issue that is critical to our survival, preserving opportunities to recreate and communicating those opportunities to the public. The B4W is just the educational tool needed to extend the Save the Outdoors initiative that began last year and better engage the business community in protecting backcountry outdoor recreation experiences. It is a big step for the industry and ORCA as an organization."

The Pew Charitable Trusts are a group of seven individual charitable funds established between 1948 and 1979 by Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. The four founders chose to honor their parents' memory by establishing a foundation that would contribute to the public's health and welfare and strengthen local communities. The trusts support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy and religion. In 1999, with approximately $4.9 billion in assets, the Trusts granted over $250 million to 206 nonprofit organizations.

"We are excited that the business community is committed to work with us in protecting special places," said Bill Meadows, president of The Wilderness Society. "This is an exciting and compelling partnership, a win-win for wild places and future generations of Americans."

Sky George, vice president of marketing for CamelBak and a member of the ORCA board, noted, "Quiet, backcountry experiences are key to the enjoyment of mountain biking, hiking and paddling. The B4W is an important step forward in preserving and managing our recreational land assets for everyone. We are pleased to be part of this history-making effort."

ORCA was founded in 1989 and today has over 1100 members representing manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, sales representatives, and climbing gyms. ORCA's projects support the day-to-day business of the outdoor industry and include: the bimonthly Top-line Retail Sales Report, presenting retail sales by product category; the State of the Industry Report, summarizing outdoor participation and trend data; representation in Washington on key outdoor issues; the annual ORCA Outdoor Industry Rendezvous and cost-saving benefits. ORCA is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.

###

Initial letter to CamelBak from ORC Dirtbike Editor, Mike Hobbs:

----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Hobbs (Off-Road.com) [mailto:mhobbs@off-road.com]
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 6:21 PM
To: newuse@camelbak.com
Cc: Ed Wissing

Subject: Question from ORC

Greetings CamelBak,
Please forward this email to your public relations and advertising departments. (I no longer have their email information.)

In July of 2000 your PR department told me that you did not  financially support environmentalist groups that want to put an end to off  roading. Since then, it has been brought to my attention that you do not advertise in the off road media but do advertise in environmentalist publications.

Would you like to explain the reason why you don't advertise in off road publications? Depending on your answer I may have to retract the statements I made in this article:
http://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/jul2000/mhobbs/

If you just haven't had the opportunity to advertise in the off road media maybe I can be of some assistance. We would like to invite you to become an advertiser/sponsor in our 2001 Baja 500 motorcycle effort. Send me a phone number and contact person and I'll have our advertising department give you a call.

Best regards,
Mike Hobbs
www.off-road.com

CamelBak's PR company responds:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Geraci" <mgeraci@wyoming.com>
To: "Mike Hobbs (Off-Road.com)" <mhobbs@off-road.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 11:39 AM

Subject: CamelBak

Mike-

Thanks for the note. We do not advertise in off-road publications yet because we don't have good distribution of our product in off-road channels. We would be creating demand for a product that readers may have a hard time finding. We are working on our distribution policies and dealers in off-road this year and hen we feel that we have product where readers can find it we will start to advertise. If you want to talk about advertising opportunities, call Stacy Stanley at 503.222.2346 x106. Lea Morrison at CamelBak will be happy to talk with you regarding promotions or sponsorship of events. 800.767.8725 x  285.

As far as environmental publications are concerned, we have discontinued our relationship with Sierra Magazine. Most of us at CamelBak are mountain bikers. Mountain biking faces many of the same access challenges that dirt bikers do. So, we are very sensitive to access issues and in no way advocate or support restrictive land use policies.

Cant we all just get along?
Thanks for your concern.
------------------
Michael Geraci Stanwood & Partners Public Relations
mgeraci@wyoming.com
307.733.1514

My response/questions to CamelBak:

----- Original Message -----
From: Ed Wissing <mrdune@off-road.com>
To: Mike Hobbs (Off-Road.com) <mhobbs@off-road.com>;
Super Hunky <rick@off-road.com>;
Norm Lenhart <lenhart@off-road.com>;
Donald C. Amador <112531.1311@compuserve.com>;
Cc:<mgeraci@wyoming.com>; <lmorrison@camelbak.com>;
<sgeorge@camelbak.com>; <president@camelbak.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 12:43 PM

Subject: Re: CamelBak(ALERT)

To All,
Please read the entire enclosed thread of communication...

CamelBak's ads are still running in Sierra Club...

Lea Morrison from CamelBak stated to me yesterday, "... the current contract (with Sierra Club)expires in approx August 2001." She went on to say, "She wasn't quite sure of the exact date..."

The below statement by Mike Geraci almost a year ago was patently false. I do not like being mislead either.

We gave CamelBak the benefit of the doubt and ran a story that appears was less than the truth. I did contact Stacy Stanley last year to discuss advertising at Lea Morrison's referral, and was treated so rudely I made a formal complaint to CamelBak. To quote Ms. Stanley, "CamelBak has no interest in supporting the off-road industry." No response was offered or given to my concerns regarding Ms. Stanley's belligerent attitude.

Also in contact with some of CamelBak's distributors...

We are all awaiting CamelBak's comments before we go to press on the 20th. It is certainly CamelBak's right not to support a community that purchases their products. And to advertise in any marketplace where they can find potential customers. That is a business decision that those on the outside have no right to question. However if they chose to proactively fight against the OHV community's interests, and the spirit of multiple use of public lands, there will be economic consequences.

CamelBak is clearly behind the eight ball due to their funding of efforts to eliminate OHV access to public lands and the statements made on behalf of the company by Sky George.

With our 1 million plus readers we can have a serious impact on CamelBak. Not to mention the ripple effect through a community that is larger than the Greens. I would urge you all not to have a knee jerk reaction and allow them to respond by the 20th before we decide if and when to publicly declare war.

Ed Wissing
aka Mr Dune
VP Director of Sales and Marketing
Sr Editor
Off-Road.com
The Off-Road Network!
www.off-road.com
www.mrdune.com

CamelBak's President, Glenn Gross responds:

----- Original Message -----

From: CamelBak <president@camelbak.com>
To: Ed Wissing <ekw@off-road.com>;
Mike Hobbs (Off-Road.com) <mhobbs@off-road.com>;
Super <rick@off-road.com>;
Norm Lenhart <lenhart@off-road.com>;
Donald C. Amador <112531.1311@compuserve.com>;
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2001 7:08 PM

Subject: CamelBak Responds

CamelBak Products, Inc.
1310 Redwood Way, Suite 200
Petaluma, CA, 94954
March 16, 200

To All Concerned:

I wish to respond to the many comments we have received lately (some favorable, some unfavorable) about quote made by a CamelBak employee at a recent trade association meeting. This statement concerned a public policy issue regarding wilderness lands. We thank you for these reactions, and although there were a variety of viewpoints, they all had one thing in common ­ passion of purpose.

We wish to emphatically state that CamelBak has only one passion ­ to keep people better hydrated, whatever they are doing. Period.

CamelBak users are involved in a wide range of activities. CamelBak employees are equally diverse in their views and hobbies. However, CamelBak Products, Inc. has NO political agenda and does not take sides on any public policy issue. This includes the recently-published "Roadless Initiative" from the US Forest Service. We leave the resolution of such issues to the democratic process that has served our country so well for the last 225 years, and encourage individuals who feel strongly about such matters to direct their energies toward those institutions. Again, CamelBak as a company takes no such positions.

Unfortunately, a quote by our employee was misconstrued as representing the position of CamelBak. We understand the confusion over this point, both by supporters and opponents of the policy being debated. But we must state clearly that the position did not and does not stand for our company. CamelBak will continue to belong to various trade organizations in the normal course of business. However, we will now be more vigilant about ensuring that no CamelBak employee accepts a position with any organization that advocates policies that could be misinterpreted as positions of CamelBak.

Pure and simple, we are dedicated to the sole purpose of providing quality hydration products to our valued and ever-widening consumer base. That's it.

We have always appreciated and will continue to welcome any comments you have about our products, company, or ways in which we could serve you better.

In closing, the one message that we will continue to state categorically is:
"Hydrate or Die!"

Sincerely,
Glenn Gross
President
CamelBak Products, Inc.
president@camelbak.com

My reiteration of the questions posed and CamelBak's responses:

Subject: Re: CamelBak Responds

To: Glenn Gross,
President, CamelBak

Sir,

This is basically the same boiler plate response we received from Lea Morrison and Mike Geraci last year. Evidence enclosed seems to contradict your statement (see attached image). You have not responded to the questions posed, rather instead I feel you are attempting to obfuscate the issue. We are well aware of the function of the US Congress, USFS and the 225 years of freedom we enjoy and which appears your company may be working aggressively to inhibit.

We would appreciate a direct response to the questions raised.

A: In the past we have advertised in Sierra Magazine in an effort to reach an expanded array of outdoor consumers. We are not advertising there this year, as the results didn't justify the expenditure.

Q: If you do not support the Sierra Club, why does your print ad attached feature a hippie with a Club t-shirt? (Click Here for the ad).

A: The point of the ad is to show the diverse group of consumers that use CamelBak and that even though they might disagree on everything under the sun, they agree on one thing -- the benefits of CamelBak. In the example you point out, it's a hiker (maybe a tree-hugger if you will) and a U.S. Marine (maybe a non-tree hugger). We also did an ad using a mountain biker vs. a soldier (very different lifestyles and jewelry tastes). We are not supporting an individual's cause -- we are supporting the individual...by giving them the best hydration system.

Q: Why was I informed by Stacy Stanley of Sasquatch Advertising in a hostile and abrasive tone that, "...CamelBak has no interest in advertising to, or supporting the off road community, now or in the future." Before she rudely terminated the conversation by hanging up on me?

A: CamelBak was not a party to that conversation and thus cannot comment on the content or tone. Sasquatch is our advertising agency, assigned to execute a CamelBak marketing strategy.

Q: And why was there no response made to my formal complaint to your marketing staff regarding Ms. Stanley's unprofessional demeanor?

A: No answer given to this question.

Q: We have also noticed a disturbing absence of OHVs being represented on your website and promotional materials. Clearly this can only be an oversight, "We wish to emphatically state that CamelBak has only one passion ­ to keep people better hydrated, whatever they are doing. Period."

A: You are correct. We need to show examples of our diverse consumer base (IE: OHV) on our websites and any promotional materials and you'll see that in the future.

Q:When I asked Mike Geraci about this, he replied, "Our photographer is more into human powered forms of recreation, we are working on this. "That was a year ago, why no progress towards the representation of OHVs in your materials, "...whatever they are doing...?"

A: No answer given to this question.

Q: Mike Geraci also stated last year that CamelBak felt it unnecessary to advertise to the OHV community since you had the lions share of the market and advertising would be (paraphrased) " Preaching to the choir." now he states (direct quote): "Thanks for the note. We do not advertise in off-road publications yet because we don't have good distribution of our product in off-road channels. We would be creating demand for a product that readers may have a hard time finding. We are working on our distribution policies and dealers in off-road this year and when we feel that we have product where readers can find it we will start to advertise.

If you want to talk about advertising opportunities, call Stacy Stanley at 503.222.2346 x106. Lea Morrison at CamelBak will be happy to talk with you regarding promotions or sponsorship of events. 800.767.8725 x 285."

First you have the market sewn up, then you have poor distribution. Odd, since four out of five OHVers with a water system I see are using a CamelBak, myself included. I didn't have any trouble in procuring one. Why does the story change so frequently?

A: Again, I won't comment as a non-involved party. I do realize that the off-road section of our business needs more attention and I expect to focus on the at program in the future.

Q:The story about CamelBak's alliance with the B4W was pulled from the ORCA website within minutes of my conversation with Lea Morrison. Why did you have the story pulled if there is nothing to hide?

A: We pulled the ORCA quote because it was not a CamelBak position and we didn't want it (as many did) interpreted as such. When I became aware of the situation, I immediately had it retracted and the issued my March 16th memorandum. As President of CamelBak, I wanted to issue the company statement instead of the VP of Marketing.

Q: Since you have taken a stand regarding the participation of employees as board members, "...with any organization that advocates policies that could be misinterpreted as positions of CamelBak." When will Sky George be stepping down from the ORCA Board?

A: I indicated that CamelBak needs to be more vigilant on any of our board or group memberships as well. The entire matter is now under internal review.

Q: If and when will Sky George be issuing a retraction and an apology to your OHV customers?

A: No answer given to this question.

Q: Unfortunately we feel that you and/or your employees have been less than forthcoming on this issue. As a business you are entirely within your rights to support whoever you choose. If your position is to support groups that are our political enemies, we commend you on your courage to speak out for your beliefs, however deeply we disagree with them. Off-Road.com as a business has chosen to speak out for our beliefs, and what we feel is in our industry's best interests. It would be patently unfair to condemn CamelBak for the same, if not opposed efforts. You are not however within your right to keep the business of customers you proactively work to alienate, or worse eliminate.

We look forward to you setting the record straight to our 1 million readers.

A: Finally, I stand 100% behind my statement on March 16th. There were no mixed messages in that statement and no attempt to conceal or deceive. We are a consumer products company - not a consumer advocate company.

Glenn Gross
President
CamelBak Systems, Inc.

Don Amador of the Blue Ribbon Coalition was the first to cut the logo from his Camel Bak and mail it to Sky George.