Dear Friends, We have a very special newsletter coming your way, one that marks the bittersweet start of a new era for Wilderness Watch and looks back on how far we’ve come together. As many of you know, George Nickas, Wilderness Watch’s Executive Director of 30 years, has moved on to a well-deserved retirement. George will stay involved in our work and remain an important touchstone—he’ll just be spending more of his hours on the ridgelines than in the office. As it should be. I could not have asked for a better mentor, colleague, and friend over my 12 years with Wilderness Watch, and I’m honored George handed me the reins of a strong organization ready to take wilderness defense into its next chapter. We’re ready because Wilderness Watch under George’s tenure was never about generating professionals and careers, it was about fighting collectively for the wild places we love and finding the joy in doing it. Like the wild communities that thrive on interdependence, George knew that the success of an organization, and a movement, can never rest on the shoulders, or the ego, of any one person. George steered Wilderness Watch through some pretty lean times into what it is today—a wildly strong and dedicated membership base, an exceptional board of directors, and eight staff spread across the country. Wilderness Watch has grown, but George made sure our growth was intentional and that the driving force was always a 100 percent feisty, strategic, and unapologetic passion for Wilderness and wildlife. This is why our amazing members continue to fund the work we do, why our staff are so dedicated and effective, and why Wilderness Watch—with just a small crew—persistently hits well above its weight in defense of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Your support has been crucial in getting us where we are today, and it will remain important as we navigate the challenging terrain ahead. As we all know, the Wilderness Act and Wilderness System are increasingly at risk, and the coming years will demand a new ferocity of the heart from those who defend them. We rely heavily on our members to take action and we will continue to call on you to stand with us in defense of Wilderness. We are also unique in that we rely, almost entirely, on our members to fund our work. That funding keeps us scrappy and independent, and your generous support is an ongoing testament to the work we’re doing to ensure a National Wilderness Preservation System thrives against the odds. Will you make a special donation in honor of George’s 30 years of unrelenting dedication to Wilderness, in honor of the wild places and wildlife we defend—and in preparation for the tough work to come? This is a pivotal moment for Wilderness. The natural world, and the bedrock laws that protect it, are facing unparalleled threats. Agencies are defunding and deprioritizing their wilderness programs, wilderness staff are leaving in droves, and agencies are increasingly outsourcing wilderness administration and decision-making to third parties, many of whom have significant conflicts of interest. Technology is a rapidly growing threat to solitude and to the natural rights of other animals to exist free from persistent surveillance and trammeling. Secure pockets of space for our wild friends are shrinking. The pressures on these last remaining wild places are increasing and multi-directional, and Congressional wilderness champions are few and far between. And yet, with great trouble comes new opportunity. On the 60th anniversary of the Wilderness Act in 2024, I wrote about how hard it is to envision the next 60 years of wilderness protection. Many of us feel that uncertainty in our bones. But it seems that if the future will be aided by anything, it will be remembering what it is to be a human animal who exists as part of a broader community of life and finding ways to tell that story from the gut. We absolutely need the lawsuits and public comments and the technocratic data and lingo—we have to play that game better than our opponents to hold the line—but we can’t get so wrapped up in those boxes that we forget how to tell the right stories. We are a world in crisis—in ecological crisis, in climate crisis, in a crisis of community and belonging. If there were ever a time for a radical retelling of how we exist on this planet, it is urgently now. Restraint—the thing that creates space for other species to exist—must be at the forefront of the conversation. Wilderness tells this story. Our task going forward is to gather more people around the campfire, to reinvigorate a movement for wildness, and to unapologetically demand its protection. Thank you for your unwavering support. If you’re able to make a special donation, please do. You can rest assured we’ll put it to good use. For the Wild,
Dana Johnson
Executive Director | 
