37 



STATEMENT OF DAVID PERI, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, 

 MOUNT AINSMITH 



Mr. Peri. Well, it means I am not doing my job, being that I am 

 responsible for the marketing of the company. I appreciate the op- 

 portunity to help alleviate that deficiency. Mountainsmith manu- 

 factures high quality outdoor goods, particularly backpacks. Our 

 gear, if you will, has been used to summit probably all the major 

 mountains in the world. So, obviously, you haven't summitted the 

 Eiger lately. 



Mr. Saxton. You are talking to a sailor so don't feel bad. 



Mr. Peri. OK. Well, Mr. Chairman, thank you this afternoon for 

 the opportunity to come and appear before you today. My name is 

 David Peri, and I do direct the marketing for Mountainsmith, 

 which is a backpacking and outdoor gear manufacturing company. 

 Today, I also represent the Outdoor Recreation Coalition of Amer- 

 ica (ORCA), which is a 600 member trade association that includes 

 suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and suppliers of 

 hiking, backpacking, paddling, and climbing equipment. 



ORCA supports maintaining habitats and protecting America's 

 natural resources and believes the funding crisis for public lands 

 demands creative but economically sound solutions. We do not sup- 

 port this initiative for several reasons. 



It chooses State fish and wildlife programs when the natural re- 

 source needs of our consumers are more diverse. The proposed ex- 

 cise tax cannot be fairly called a user fee. And the initiative creates 

 a new inefficient and largely hidden tax affecting hundreds, per- 

 haps thousands, of manufacturers and untold numbers of retailers 

 and consumers. 



Rather than levying a new tax, we urge you to allow flexibility 

 in providing assistance where we believe it best benefits our com- 

 pany and consumers. Let me tell you about a Mountainsmith pro- 

 gram I helped devise that shows how manufacturers, retailers, con- 

 sumers, and foundations like the National Forest Foundation can 

 voluntarily work together bringing projects to life. 



Mountainsmith started in its founder's garage 17 years ago but 

 now employs about 240 people in Colorado and Arkansas. Our 

 product line ranges from fanny or lumbar packs to large expedition 

 backpacks. Our products are used by professional and amateur 

 mountaineers, hikers, and backpackers, as well as camera people, 

 emergency medical technicians, students, bicycle riders, and ath- 

 letes the world over. Our equipment has summitted nearly every 

 major mountain in the world. 



Mountainsmith sees trail access and development directly affect- 

 ing and benefiting our customers, and so we have developed a pro- 

 gram that will generate cash for the construction of the Continen- 

 tal Divide Trail (CDT), the last great U.S. border-to-border trail 

 stretching from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. 



In our CDT program, we offer one of our best selling expedition 

 packs with a special top pocket and lumbar pack that is embroi- 

 dered with a large CDT emblem. Our CDT pack sells for $30 above 

 the cost of the normal Crestone II. All $30 goes to the CDT, 50 per- 

 cent in the name of the participating retailer, and 50 percent in the 

 name of Mountainsmith. 



