Eddie Bauer Leads National Effort to Restore Wildfire-Damaged Ecosystems

American Forests
Monday, 18 June 2001

Officials at American Forests are praising specialty retailer Eddie Bauer for taking the lead role in helping to reforest areas scorched by the massive wildfires of recent years. Beginning Sunday, June 24, and for the three weeks following, Eddie Bauer associates in over 550 stores across North America will be asking customers to help raise 1 million dollars for Wildfire ReLeaf, the large-scale reforestation initiative by American Forests.

"Eddie Bauer's commitment to replanting forests burned by wildfires could not come at a better time," said Deborah Gangloff, executive director of American Forests. "Last year's fires left millions of acres in need of replanting. Trees are needed now to restore wildlife habitat and to prevent further damage to rivers and streams from erosion. Eddie Bauer's loyal customers and broad reach across North America gives us the opportunity to involve hundreds of thousands of people in one of the most important environmental restoration efforts in decades."

Last year, wildfires scorched more than 7 million acres and destroyed nearly a billion trees, making 2000 one of the worst fire seasons of the past 100 years. This year could be as bad, or worse. For example, some 4,000 fires have burned over 397,000 acres in Florida since the year began. Forests in central Florida and parts of the West are especially at risk this year due to a continuing drought.

Every dollar donated through Eddie Bauer's "Add a dollar, Plant a tree" program, plants one tree in a wildfire ecosystem restoration project. Customers can also "Add a dollar, Plant a tree" online at www.eddiebauer.com and through the catalog service at 1-800-426-8020.

For more information, or to contact American Forests, see their website at: www.americanforests.org