Dear Friends, As part of our online community, you play a crucial role in protecting America's irreplaceable Wilderness. We can't thank you enough for answering our alerts and taking action with every letter and email you sent this past year—you helped generate more than a quarter million letters to members of Congress and agency decision-makers! You know, as we do, that adverse winds are blowing right now and that we must continue to stand up for our National Wilderness Preservation System. Please make a special year-end donation so we can meet the challenges head-on. All first-time donations between now and the end of the year will be matched by a generous WW member. Yes, a positive mid-term election slowed some of the strongest headwinds, but we still face some nasty weather from the Trump Administration and the agencies it controls. The rogue's gallery of errant proposals includes: - a road through the heart of the iconic Izembek Wilderness in Alaska;
- a mammoth copper-sulfide mine just upstream of the storied Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness; and
- waging war on native wildlife—like wolves and bears—in Alaska by opening our National Preserves to bear baiting, killing mothers with cubs in their dens, aerial gunning, and other unethical and disgusting practices.
And there's little chance the Administration will try to rein in agency managers who increasingly invade Wilderness with helicopters, chainsaws, bulldozers, and other inappropriate and unlawful machines. We can expect to again see an NRA-backed sportsman's bill that would effectively repeal the Wilderness Act, and the "wheels over wilderness" bill that would open Wilderness to mountain bikes and other machines. We'll have more allies in Congress this time around, but we can't take anything for granted. In 2019 we'll be pushing Congress to fulfill its oversight duties to hold the agencies accountable for their wilderness programs. We need to move forward with a campaign to end livestock grazing in Wilderness so that native wildlife can thrive, water quality is protected, and recreation opportunities are enhanced. We need to rebuild the advocacy for good wilderness stewardship that once existed in Washington D.C., but has long since flagged. Support from people like you has always allowed us to respond forcefully. Your letters to Congress and other decision-makers have been a huge help, but we also need your financial support to fund our work to protect America's wildlands. We wish there was a one solution for all the problems, but there's not. There's just a lot of hard work. Each issue requires strong pushback or support, not just from our staff, but also from thousands of citizens like you. Each issue requires an independent strategy that ratchets up our wilderness defense. Each issue requires our willingness to move the challenge to federal court . . . if necessary. Each issue needs the principled, unwavering advocacy Wilderness Watch provides. That's why we need your continued support as we move into the year ahead. With your help, we'll keep all Wilderness wild in 2019 and for decades to come. Please go HERE to donate right now. Thank you for giving as generously as you can. For the Wild,
George, Jeff, Kevin, Dawn, Dana, and Clare | 
