The Wilderness Society

Wilderness Blog

Latest Posts from the Stewardship campaign

Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Tennessee Wilderness Act with Wilderness Trail Work

November 4, 2011 By Anna Wlodarczyk

Volunteers conduct trail maintenance on Sampson Mountain with the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards

Credit: Bill Hodge

I am swinging a pulaski deep into the ground, hoping to chip off a nice large chunk of soil. I am on Sampson Mountain on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Tennessee Wilderness Act of 1986, doing trail maintenance in this magnificent wilderness. It is a gorgeous October day and I am working together with six volunteers, all of us swinging pulaskis and hoes, eager to repair the tread on this trail so that others can venture up here and enjoy the stunning view. Region: Southeast Read more

A Subtle Kind of Wilderness

October 24, 2011 By Barbara Hawke

Adobe Badlands, Colorado

Credit: Barbara Hawke

Last Saturday I was able to join 30 enthusiastic hikers to explore a kind of wilderness that is different than what we often think of as "wilderness" – the subtle, enigmatic hills and valleys of the Adobe Badlands. The Adobe Badlands are unique in many ways, a maze of soft yellow shale that supports extremely rare plants and creatures that survive the harsh conditions in this starkly arid landscape. Region: Central Rockies Read more

Longing for the call of the Whippoorwill: A reflection

October 20, 2011 By Scotty Bowman

Scotty Bowman reclines while taking in the view during his summer working as a crew leader for the SAWS program

Credit: Scotty Bowman

Autumn on the horizon, there is a coolness in the night air and the days are getting shorter. I am sitting on my front porch recalling the first time I used a crosscut saw last summer. That’s when I first met The Wilderness Society’s Bill Hodge and when I cut my first tree – an experience that prompted me to spend nine weeks with the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS) as a crew leader. Region: Northeast Read more

Repairing nature’s infrastructure with ecological restoration

October 12, 2011 By Evan Hjerpe, Ph.D.

A decommissioned road in Muir Woods National Monument

Credit: Anne Merwin

There has been a lot of talk lately about the nation’s crumbling manmade infrastructure, such as failing bridges, aging highways and faltering transmission lines. But what about our failing natural infrastructure -- our polluted air and waterways, diminishing biodiversity, and unhealthy forests that are the result of unfettered development and short-sighted planning? Read more

Is Congress listening? Save outdoor industry jobs, cut oil and gas subsidies

September 16, 2011 By Christopher Lancette

A man walking in Hells Canyon Wilderness in the Nez Perce National Forest of Idaho

Credit: John McCarthy

While all kinds of ideas for cutting the federal budget deficit are swirling around the Capitol, The Wilderness Society is making one thing abundantly clear: Congress should stop its assault on wilderness and the recreation economy and instead make green-friendly cuts like eliminating oil and gas-industry subsidies. Read more

Living with Fire: Southern California’s Chaparral wildlands

September 2, 2011 By Rich Fairbanks

Los Padres National Forest in California

Southern California is known for its mild Mediterranean climate where shorts and flip-flops are popular during the hot and sunny summer, sometimes right on through a balmy winter. Not nearly as famous, but just as characteristic of the Southland, are its chaparral wild lands. Chaparral is a native plant community of many species, including chamise, red shank, ceanothus, manzanita, scrub oak and other shrubby plants. Region: California Read more

A government program everyone likes: Legacy Roads and Trails

August 26, 2011 By Vera Smith

It’s not often that in rural Montana we can find a Forest Service ranger, a heavy equipment operator, conservation advocates, and others all heralding a government program. But that’s exactly what happened recently in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Region: Northern Rockies Read more

New guidelines help clear smoke on California wildfires

August 25, 2011 By Rich Fairbanks

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from a reporter at the Redding Record Searchlight. He wanted my response to an agreement between the air quality regulators and the land management agencies that could spell relief for Californians inhaling smoke from forest fires. The Record Searchlight’s readership is pretty much the part of northern California that had 800,000 acres burn in 2008. Much of that burn occurred under conditions that funneled smoke right into the towns of northern California. So smoke is a big deal to the folks who read this newspaper. Region: California Read more