The Winter Wildlands Alliance is a left-of-center environmentalist nonprofit organization that works towards preserving winter wildlands through political campaigns and other activities. ¹ It has a large network, has received millions of dollars in funding from environmentalist foundations like Patagonia, ² and publicly supports Black Lives Matter. ³

Overview

The Winter Wildlands Alliance was founded in February 2000 by backcountry ski and quiet use groups from Nevada, Colorado, California, and Idaho. ⁴ The organization is based in Boise, Idaho, but has a network of approximately 100 environmentalist organization across the United States. ⁵ Some of these organizations include Patagonia, ⁶ Avalanche Science LLC, ⁷ Alaska Quiet Rights Coalition, and Nordic and Backcountry Skiers Alliance of Idaho. ⁸ The alliance focuses on preserving winter wildlands and human-powered snow sports experiences on public lands through working and dealing with grassroots groups, elected officials and other organizations. ⁹ The Winter Wildlands Alliance has received over $3.5 million in donations from various left-of-center environmentalist foundations such as the Turner Foundation ($1.2 million), the Wyss Foundation ($600,000), and Patagonia being the biggest donors. ¹⁰

Political Activity

In 2010, the alliance partnered up with Wolf Recovery Project and the Sierra club in a lawsuit against the USDA to try and stop the agency from darting and tagging wolves in wilderness areas. Since that same year, the WWA have been running a long campaign to get the use of snowmobiles on public land restricted. ¹¹ In 2021, the alliance joined forces with the American Alpine Club to sue the Council on Environmental Quality because of an alleged infraction of the National Environmental Policy Act. ¹²

The WWA, alongside 91 left-of-center environmental organizations, signed the letter demanding the removal or resignation of William Perry Pendley from the position of Deputy Director for Policy and Programs of the Bureau of Land Management during the Trump administration. ¹³ The alliance also pledged its solidarity with action for left-of-center social policy and Black Lives Matter. ¹⁴

Other Activity

The Winter Wildlands Alliance runs a winter science education program called SnowSchool. SnowSchool works with 35,000 students at 70 sites across the United States every year. The SnowSchool is also partnered with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) SnowEX program to connect students with scientists to assist them with their work. ¹⁵ The organization also runs a Backcountry Film Festival tour every winter and it tours over 100 cities. ¹⁶

People

Harold A. Hallstein IV is the president of the board of directors for the Winter Wildlands Alliance. ¹⁷ Hallstein is the founder and managing partner of the Sanaka Group ¹⁸ an investment management business based in Boulder, Colorado. ¹⁹ He previously worked as a fund analyst for RCG Capital Advisors, a long-short equity investment partnership. He is also the chairman of Boulder’s Open Space Board of Trustees (OSBT). ²⁰

Todd Walton is the executive director of the Winter Wildlands Alliance. He has worked with various organizations in the outdoor industry such as Outdoor Research, Outdoor Industry Association, Snowsports Industries America, and Crested Butte Mountain Resort. He also serves as the president of the board of the Washington Trails Association. ²¹

1. “About Us.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified October 9, 2020. https://winterwildlands.org/about-winter-wildlands-alliance/.
2. “Winter Wildlands Alliance.” Green Decoys. Accessed July 21, 2021. https://greendecoys.com/decoys/winter-wildlands-alliance/.
3. “We Pledge Solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Action for Social Justice.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified June 4, 2020. https://winterwildlands.org/we-pledge-solidarity-with-black-lives-matter-and-action-for-social-justice/.
4. “Winter Wildlands Alliance Volunteer Opportunities.” VolunteerMatch – Where Volunteering Begins. Accessed July 21, 2021. https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org65358.jsp.
5. “Winter Wildlands Alliance.” Green Decoys. Accessed July 21, 2021. https://greendecoys.com/decoys/winter-wildlands-alliance/.
6. “Corporate Partners.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified December 7, 2020. https://winterwildlands.org/our-partners/corporate-partners/.
7. “Backcountry Partners.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified December 8, 2020. https://winterwildlands.org/our-partners/backcountry-partners/.
8. “Grassroots Network.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified June 1, 2021. https://winterwildlands.org/our-partners/grassroots-network/.
9. “Protecting the Backcountry.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified May 20, 2021. https://winterwildlands.org/policy-advocacy/.
10. “Winter Wildlands Alliance.” Green Decoys. Accessed July 21, 2021. https://greendecoys.com/decoys/winter-wildlands-alliance/.
11. Dawson, Lou. “Winter Wildlands Alliance Ramps Up Call for Snowmobile Restrictions.” – The Backcountry Ski Touring Blog. Last modified September 3, 2016. https://www.wildsnow.com/3653/backcountry-skiing-snowmobiles/.
12.  “The American Alpine Club and Winter Wildlands Alliance Join Forces to Sue the Council on Environmental Quality To Keep the “Public” in Public Lands.” Outdoor Industry Association. Last modified July 30, 2020. https://outdoorindustry.org/press-release/american-alpine-club-and-winter-wildlands-alliance-join-forces-to-sue-the-council-on-environmental-quality-to-keep-the-public-in-public-lands/.
13. Molvar, Erik, and Peter Jenkins. Western Watersheds Project. Accessed July 22, 2021. https://www.westernwatersheds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Pendley-resignation-letter-final-2.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=71d323ab-3b7e-484b-81dd-563a59e94f11.
14. “We Pledge Solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Action for Social Justice.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified June 4, 2020. https://winterwildlands.org/we-pledge-solidarity-with-black-lives-matter-and-action-for-social-justice/.
15. “SnowSchool—An Education Program by Winter Wildlands Alliance.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified November 26, 2019. https://winterwildlands.org/snowschool/.
16. “Backcountry Film Festival.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified September 16, 2020. https://winterwildlands.org/backcountry-film-festival/.
17. “Board of Directors.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified May 5, 2021. https://winterwildlands.org/bod.
18. “Harold Hallstein IV.” Sankala Group LLC. Accessed July 21, 2021. https://www.sankalagroup.com/hal_hallstein.html.
19. “Board of Directors.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified May 5, 2021. https://winterwildlands.org/bod.
20. “Harold Hallstein IV.” Sankala Group LLC. Accessed July 21, 2021. https://www.sankalagroup.com/hal_hallstein.html.
21. “Staff.” Winter Wildlands Alliance. Last modified June 15, 2021. https://winterwildlands.org/staff/.