Patagonia literally invented the 1% for conservation thing, and I would bet you a nice dinner that Yvon/ Patagonia contributes far more to "their" conservation causes than Bass Pro or Johnny Morris does on a real or proportionate basis.
You can disagree with it all you want but the rich greenie liberals are far more willing to put their $ to causes than the rich hook and bullet crowd.
I find Patagonia is TOP tier a force to reckon. As
@Ben Lamb commented, Yvon holds a quality PR force. Their reach is also internationally recognized for their eco-enviro outreach and support.
Many of their financial supported endeavors hold quality operations, i.e. salmon runs where dams that produce less ROI than the habitat river structure (less silt for egg reproduction) would gain if the dam is removed or re-engineered.
They - due to Yvon's devotion to his belief, has created a tsunami of environmental funding via "Action Works".
Internationally vaulted as most nations do not have an understanding of American values, not have reason to care... Thus $$$ continues to flush in.
That said, their $$$ coffees also play completely adverse to American hunting/State conservation efforts as they, via Yvon, value federal dominance over a country versus State sovereignty to manage our own grizzlies, natural transition of wolves into Colorado, etc.
I placed them as a mixed bag of quality and crap for their funding.
You may disagree and find value with the Anti "Trophy Hunter" speeches Yvon gives to the masses. I find his slick investment into college propaganda a quality chess move though one I do not support.
The challenge U.S. holds... We are a country of hunters that pride ourselves as part of the cycle of life equation within conservation and value State management of our wildlife.
U.S. hunter based conservation organizations are not internationally vested. We lose a large $ coffee when contending with Yvon's Amazon to the Nile river eco-enviro global tithe collection, so to speak.
Now, IMO, take for instance, if our nationally recognized hunt based conservation organizations operated collectively to counter the Patagonia supported boxes of ballot city slicker biology to force re-introduction of woofs in Colorado, this would
NOT have passed.
We spent 1/2 the $ opposing the Colorado initiative yet only lost by 0.91% of city slicker votes.
Our hunt based conservation organizations must unite when faced with such icebergs dead ahead, as Randy shared in his podcast..
My two cents. I don't discount Patagonia one bit. As said, they are a strong force that must be acknowledged and countered...
