About the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards
About the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards

The Wilderness Society is proud to sponsor SAWS: Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards. This group is dedicated to keeping trails open in designated wilderness areas across the Southeast.
The Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards are dedicated to providing stewardship to wilderness areas in the Southern Appalachians region and are engaged in a variety of activities.
SAWS works to maintain trails in designated wilderness areas and Wilderness Study Areas. Find out more about these places in the Southeast United States.
If you are out in a wilderness area in the Southern Appalachians, you might run into one of the Wilderness Rangers. The Wilderness Rangers roam the wild lands, making sure trails are maintained and that the wilderness stays wild.
There are plenty of opportunities to get involved with the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards. If you are interested in lending a hand while you hike, find out more.
Add your voice to important wilderness causes and take action to stop threats to our wildlands by joining our community of wilderness activists.
Need inspiration to protect wilderness? Enter our Wild Days of Summer give-away to win airfare to visit your favorite wild place.
Hear artists, activists and adventurers share what the ownership and legacy of these American wildlands means to them.
Visit us in the Eco-Village at this summer’s Dave Matthews Band concerts.
It is a haven for geology lovers as water and erosion has exposed millions of years of deposited sedimentary rock. Recreationists of all kinds are awed by its natural sculptures: rock formations, canyons, mesas and gorges.
A new rule will protect proposed renewable energy sites from conflicting mining development on public lands in the Western states, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said at the end of April.
Yet, here we are, with people and the government unable to stop furloughs, job losses, and lower revenue to keep the government functioning. Our public lands have certainly not been spared from this indiscriminate budget ax.
But Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski refused to accept that decision. She and residents of the tiny community of King Cove are fighting to have the decision overturned.
Birdwatchers travel from far and wide to northwest Colorado to see male sage-grouse strut their stuff in hopes of attracting a mate. Early spring is prime season to catch these timid grouse dancing on the lek and shaking their tail feathers through organized tours.
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.
April 24, 2013
Dear Senator:
In 2012, the Bureau of Land Management released Manual 6330, which replaced the agency's longstanding policy for management of Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), known as the Interim Management Policy for Lands Under Wilderness Review (IMP). Manual 6330 does not provide for designation of new WSAs, but it does require more protective management for existing WSAs than the IMP.
A draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and Dominguez Canyon Wilderness near Grand Junction, CO would improve land management efforts and provide a sustainable path for the area over the next 20 years.
The Wilderness Society today applauded the U.S. Senate for passing the Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act (S. 241) – sponsored by Tom Udall (D-NM) and co-sponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) – would protect as wilderness roughly 13,500 acres of the Cerro del Yuta and 8,000 acres of the Rio San Antonio areas.
The Wilderness Society today applauded the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for passing the Pine Forest Range Recreation Enhancement Act out of committee.