Forest Restoration

For more than 100 years, America’s national forests have been exploited for timber and energy development, among other things.

We often talk about restoring America’s man-made infrastructures, like bridges, highways and tunnels. But what about our natural infrastructure, such as our polluted water and unhealthy forests? Today, America’s forests are blighted with water pollution, mudslides, invasion of non-native species, loss of wildlife habitat, wildfires and degraded recreational opportunities. 

The Wilderness Society’s restoration program is working with local communities and in government to restore our national forests back to their original splendor.

Forest service and restoration

The Wilderness Society - along with local communities and partners on the ground - is working with the U.S. Forest Service to restore our national forests.

Integrated Resource Restoration budget

The U.S. Forest Service’s Integrated Resource Restoration (IRR) budget is a way to make forest restoration work efficiently and effectively. This critical program was included in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 (FY 2013) budget. The Wilderness Society will be working with the Forest Service and monitoring the progress of the program.

Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) encourages collaborative and science based ecosystem restoration of priority national forest landscapes while benefitting local communities.

Watershed restoration

Did you know that only half of the watersheds in our national forests are classified as functioning properly? Yet these are the areas that are supposed to provide us with clean drinking water and healthy fisheries. By restoring our watersheds, we can clean up America’s water. 

Why Wilderness

Wilderness is a precious resource with many human, natural and economic benefits that we need to protect.

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WildAlerts

Be the first to hear about important campaigns, victories and features related to enjoying and protecting wilderness by joining our email and mobile WildAlert network.

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mywilderness

Betty White first visited California’s Sierra Nevada at age four. That visit, and visits almost every year thereafter, made a lasting impression on her.

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  • Western Clean Energy Advocates letter to Gov Hickenlooper in support of renewable standard increase

    Members of the Western Clean Energy Advocates (WCEA), signed a letter encouraging Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to  to sign SB 252, to increase the renewable energy portfolio standard for rural electric providers

    . WCEA is a diverse and growing coalition working to transform the way we produce, use, and distribute energy across the West. WCEA aims to create jobs, protect the West’s water, wildlife, and ecosystems, address climate change, and enhance energy security.

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  • Blueprint for a responsible renewable energy program on public lands

    Smart Steps to Establish a Responsible Program for Renewable Energy on Public Lands

    Since its first day in office, the Obama Administration has made rapid and responsible expansion of renewable energy a top priority. The public lands have played a major role in achieving early goals, but only because of focused effort to correct decades of inattention and inactivity toward developing renewable energy as a major component of the nation’s energy mix.

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  • By The Numbers: Acres for Energy and Conservation

    Expanding energy development to meet the growing needs of America must be balanced with protecting vital wild places. 

    The Wilderness Society has launched a new quarterly report "By The Numbers" to track how many acres of American land have been protected by Congress and the Executive branch, and how many acres have been leased out to energy development.

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  • Testimony reveals Kulluk needed more tow vessels

    Tim Woody
    Wednesday, May 22, 2013

    Witness testimony today by Noble’s Offshore Installation Manager Todd Case as he was questioned by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that the Kulluk drill rig -- which Shell attempted to tow across the Gulf of Alaska with a single tow vessel before it broke loose and ran aground last New Year’s Eve -- should have had multiple tow vessels for safe transport.

    Case was aboard the Kulluk when it went adrift and ran aground on a small island south of Kodiak.

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  • Hastings-Young bill would scrap a balanced plan for NPR-A

    Tim Woody
    Tuesday, May 21, 2013

    U.S. Representatives Don Young and Doc Hastings have introduced H.R. 1964 in an effort to scrap the Department of the Interior’s recently finalized, comprehensive plan for the western Arctic’s National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the nation’s largest tract of public land. The bill is scheduled for a hearing tomorrow on Capitol Hill.

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  • Blueprint identifies ways Interior Department can continue building a smart renewable energy plan to meet Obama’s goals

    jdickson
    Monday, May 20, 2013

    Identifying smart steps the Obama Administration, including the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management, can take to continue building a responsible program for renewable energy  are part of a “blueprint for action” released by The Wilderness Society today.

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