Last December Midwest Mountaineering conducted a Wildlands Acquistion Voting Contest. Participating organizations were The Minnesota Land Trust (www.mnland.org), The Nature Conservancy of Minnesota (www.nature.org) and The Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota (www.parksand trails.org). Each of the three organizations submitted a land acquistion project. Customers were asked to vote for the most deserving project. Over 6,000 votes were cast. The Contest served as a great way to highlight wildlands acquisition in Minnesota and created significant publicity for the smaller organizations.

On December 29th, 2011 Rod Johnson, owner and founder of Midwest Mountaineering awarded a $10,000 check to Brett Feldman, executive director of The Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota. The grant assists in the acquisition of a key parcel of land, which allows a bridge to be built connecting two parks, substantially extending a bike trail and allowing a canoe portage to be created.

In December 2011, Midwest Mountaineering also awarded its Employee Environmental Grants. A total of over $6000 was awarded to these organizations: Boundary Waters Advisory Committee, Carpenter Valley Nature Center, Friends of the Boundary Waters, Minnesota Audubon, Project Success, Sierra Club: Inner City Outings, Superior Hiking Trail Association, Venturing Crew 3309.