The Séliš-QlÌ“ispé Cultural Committee created the following language, "The University of Montana acknowledges that we are in the aboriginal territories of the Salish and Kalispel people. Today, we honor the path they have always shown us in caring for this place for the generations to come."​
Purpose
The purpose of the National Wilderness Workshop (NWW) is to: bring together the wilderness stewardship community to address issues of national import for wilderness. Workshops move around the country, with each workshop focusing on a theme topic, as well as wilderness management, science, and recreation.
NWW23
The 2023 workshop is organized around centering Indigenous people in wilderness, and bringing Indigenous perspectives, traditional caretaking methods, and kincentric relationships into wilderness stewardship. As an organization, the Society for Wilderness Stewardship is committed to seeking out and elevating Indigenous voices and perspectives; being an ally and an advocate for Indigenous partnership, practices and perspectives to be widely adopted in wilderness facilitation and stewardship; empowering Indigenous people to utilize their influence in the wilderness sector; and valuing partnership and collaboration from Tribal members and Indigenous people.
To enact this in the NWW, we have been developing more relationships with Tribes and Indigenous people, and we broadened our planning committee to be much more balanced and representative. Together, we changed how the workshop is planned and implemented - our tracks have moved from singly topical to holistic, our scheduling has changed from solely monochronic to a blend of polychronic and monochronic, our dates moved from the traditional fall timeline to spring, a season much more conducive to gathering; and we are prioritizing relationship building and individual and group reflection throughout the workshop. Our goal in creating this workshop is to change not only the workshop itself, but the wilderness field. We are building a new culture of how we care for, and facilitate, wilderness lands and people that elevates and amplifies the voices, practices and perspectives of Indigenous people and Tribes.
Workshop planners and presenters
Location and Accommodations
NWW23 is being held in Missoula, Montana, at the University of Montana (32 Campus Drive, Missoula, Montana, 59812). If you will be flying in, your destination is the Missoula Montana Airport. Missoula has a number of great options available for lodging, including plenty of listings on Airbnb and VRBO and numerous hotels and motels. We recommend booking hotel rooms at the Doubletree (a very easy walk to campus), the Holiday Inn (right downtown, next to the bike path which you can take east directly into campus, or the Wren (situated in between campus and downtown).
We have a room block available at the Wren for single King rooms for $106/night Monday-Thursday and $149/night Friday-Saturday. Use the group code: WILDERNESS or book by calling ((406) 401-4400) or emailing (info@wrenmissoula.com)​ the front desk and mentioning the room block. If you are interested in booking a double queen room, you have to call or email the hotel to book. Double queen rates are $20 more than the listed King room rates. The cut-off for accepting reservations into this room block is March 18th, 2023 at 5pm local time.
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There are also many options for ground transportation. Missoula operates the Mountain Line bus system, and hosts transportation companies Uber and Lyft. There are also seven car rental companies in Missoula, with pick up options at the airport as well as some elsewhere in town.
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Parking near the university can be challenging. Information on the types of parking permits available on campus
is available on the University of Montana website. Passes are $4/day and you can by multiple day passes for parking on campus. To buy passes guests can register here: https://umt.t2hosted.com/Account/Portal
Access
It is our goal to make the workshop accessible to every person who would like to participate. Although this year’s workshop will move back to being held in person, we are also offering a virtual registration option. Virtual registration will provide access to the Plenary and Concurrent Tracks, as well as track recordings, so you may engage in sessions at the time that works for you. If you register for the virtual option, we will send you links and information for participating closer to the workshop.
All students are free to attend, and can register as such through the student registration portal.
If you would like to attend the workshop and need any financial assistance for registration, lodging or travel, please contact us and we will work with you to figure out how to support your attendance.
COVID
NWW23 marks the first time we are getting back together in person since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are excited to see everyone, and ask that you please behave cautiously in the weeks leading up to the workshop, and during your travel to the workshop. Limiting exposure to individuals outside your family, masking, washing your hands, and staying home if you are not feeling well are all greatly appreciated. Undoubtedly we will have individuals at the workshop who are immunocompromised, and we want them (and everyone) to stay healthy and happy throughout the event and afterwards.
We can’t wait to see you in April! Between now and then, please reach out to us if you have any questions at: info@wildernessstewardship.org
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During the week of the workshop you can phone or text our help line if you have any questions: 970-761-9453