The REI Foundation, the charitable arm of outdoor clothing and equipment retailer REI, has announced grants totaling $4.6 million to more than three hundred nonprofit organizations working to preserve outdoor spaces and help people connect with outdoor recreational opportunities.

Most of the grants will support local organizations working to enhance parks, trails, and waterways across the country, while others will help fund national and regional programs that support outdoor activities such as urban cycling, mountain biking, backcountry skiing, and climbing. In addition, the retailer has announced that it will partner with several nonprofits to engage youth and more diverse populations in outdoor recreation.

Grant recipients include the American Alpine Club, which is dedicated to cultivating healthy climbing landscapes and empowering local climbing communities; the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, which works to create and protect sustainable mountain biking opportunities in Washington State; the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, which plans to mobilize volunteers in Southern California to restore and maintain sixteen hundred acres of  coastal open space, including over forty miles of recreational trails; and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, which is engaged in creating a healthier, more livable District of Columbia region by helping to plan and construct a  network of bike trails.

"At REI, we want to share our passion for outdoor recreation far and wide. But to have fun outdoors, you have to have great places to go," said Marc Berejka, director of government and community affairs at the company. "In partnership with our employees and more than five million members, we're dedicated to supporting nonprofits that sustain popular outdoor spaces and keep them accessible for generations to come."