Kenai Peninsula Surfrider Chapter Chair Marcy Melville selected for Outdoor Alliance’s third cohort of Grasstops Collective advocates
Homer-local Marcy Melville was chosen as one of 21 grasstops outdoor recreation leaders for prestigious leadership and advocacy development program.
Outdoor Alliance, a coalition of outdoor recreation groups working together to protect public lands, this month announced the selection of its third Grasstops Collective cohort made up of 21 advocates, representing 16 congressional districts and 10 states. Kenai Peninsula Surfrider Chapter Chair Marcy Melville was selected for this prestigious leadership and advocacy development program, where she will be offered training on how to build relationships with policymakers and advocate for conservation priorities, such as helping to protect public lands.
In 2025, the 39 trained Grasstops Collective advocates engaged their lawmakers on over 30 policies, moving the needle on attempted public land sell offs, Legacy Restoration Fund reauthorization, land and water legislation affecting their local areas, among other conservation priorities.
“This year’s cohort comes from across the country, with a variety of backgrounds, outdoor recreation pursuits, and leadership roles. They each bring their local perspective to positively inform conservation, recreation, and climate policy at a national level with local authenticity,” said Taylor Rogers, Outdoor Alliance’s Grasstops Advocacy Director. “The meaningful relationships built between the advocates and policymakers enables the protection of more places, the ability to pass better conservation and recreation policy, and fund public lands and waters.”
Grasstops advocates are leaders in their community who believe in Outdoor Alliance’s mission work and are genuinely excited to share their local perspectives with their members of Congress. With training and resources from Outdoor Alliance, advocates become a trusted resource for policymakers, providing perspective, input, and guidance that is both representative of their local outdoor recreation community, and in furtherance of Outdoor Alliance’s mission work and national policy goals.
Marcy Melville lives on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula and is the founding chair of the Surfrider Foundation’s Kenai Peninsula Chapter, where she works to protect clean water, healthy coastlines, and access to outdoor recreation along Alaska’s coastal communities. Through Surfrider, she supports local efforts to reduce pollution, improve water quality, and protect the marine environments that sustain both wildlife and local livelihoods. As an outdoor enthusiast who spends time fishing, surfing, and exploring Alaska’s beaches and waterways, Melville is passionate about ensuring these places remain healthy and accessible for future generations.
“Alaska’s coastlines and public waters are central to our way of life on the Kenai Peninsula,” said Melville. “I’m excited to join the Grasstops Collective and help bring the voices of Alaska’s coastal communities into conversations about protecting the places we depend on.”
The program includes five months of training, and in September, Melville, along with the other Grasstops advocates will travel to D.C. for a fly-in to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and participate in an in-person training. The program wraps up in October with a final training and graduation.
Once trained, Melville will continue to receive ongoing support and resources from Outdoor Alliance and its networks so that they can continue to build relationships with their policymakers and become lifelong advocates for conservation and recreation policy.
For more information about the 2026 Grasstops Collective cohort check out our website here. For information about the 2024 cohort here and 2025 cohort here.
To learn more, please visit www.outdooralliance.org.
About Outdoor Alliance
Outdoor Alliance is a nonprofit coalition of organizations that includes American Whitewater, American Canoe Association, Access Fund, International Mountain Bicycling Association, Winter Wildlands Alliance, The Mountaineers, American Alpine Club, the Mazamas, Colorado Mountain Club, and Surfrider Foundation. For more than ten years, Outdoor Alliance has united the human-powered outdoor recreation community to achieve lasting conservation victories. Our work has helped to permanently protect 40 million acres of public land, secure $5.1 billion in funding for the outdoors, and convert more than 100,000 outdoor enthusiasts into outdoor advocates. For more information, visit www.outdooralliance.org