Mission Statement

The Society for Wilderness Stewardship (SWS) is a leading national 501(c) 3 non-profit, dedicated to developing and implementing the gold standard of wilderness and natural resource management across the United States. For the past 20 years, our team of experts has provided the training, tools, and capacity needed to effectively support natural resource managers to ensure the long-term health of our nation's wildlands

 

SWS is made up of people who work in, recreate on, and care about wildlands.  We work closely with the US Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife Service, to take care of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

 

We do this by: convening the stewards of wilderness to discuss emerging issues in wilderness management at the annual National Wilderness Workshop; providing training and career advancement to wilderness professionals through our Wilderness Fellows & Dayen Program and Wilderness Ranger Academies; engaging and educating wilderness gateway communities through our Wild Town designation and place-based learning programs; and completing research in wilderness areas to make sure wilderness stays wild.