The Wilderness Society

05/11/2026

BREAKING 🚨 The Trump administration is officially repealing the BLM Public Lands Rule, culminating a rollback process launched last year.

The message is loud and clear: They’re prioritizing drilling and mining over conservation, outdoor access and the future of the places we all share.

Public lands belong to all of us. They give us the freedom to explore, support communities and wildlife, and ensure that future generations inherit open spaces worth protecting. Stripping this rule disregards the agency’s legally mandated mission, and the public’s clear demand for balanced, sustainable stewardship.

Learn more about what’s at stake with this repeal: https://bit.ly/43347Bg

05/08/2026

Your favorite hike didn't just happen by accident. The Travel Management Rule (TMR) helps protect the landscapes, wildlife, and access that make outdoor adventures possible. Now it’s at risk.

Read our latest blog: https://bit.ly/4tDKdsn

05/07/2026

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is our common ground—a place that conserves wildlife habitat, safeguards drinking water, and protects lands rich in culture and history. For Tribal Nations, this landscape is their ancestral and current homelands where people continue to practice their traditions, gather foods and medicines, and care for sacred places. Learn what makes these places so special, from the people who know them best.

National monuments endure because people choose to defend them. Stand with Friends of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument and Nevada Wildlife Federation, Inc. and take action with The Wilderness Society by clicking the link to protect our common ground, both now and for future generations: https://bit.ly/4mtMRy2

Featuring:
Alan O’Neill
Board of Directors, Friends of Avi Kwa Ame

Ashley Hemmers
Enrolled Member and Tribal Administrator, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe

Brett K. Jefferson
Chair, Nevada Wildlife Federation

Garrett Hammack
Director, Nevada Wildlife Federation

05/06/2026

Tell oil companies: don’t bid on the Arctic Refuge. Send a letter now: https://bit.ly/3O4rp6d

We’re urging major oil companies to stay out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because this place is too important to lose for wildlife, Indigenous communities and our climate.

This extraordinary landscape is part of our shared natural heritage, provides irreplaceable habitat and should remain protected for future generations—not handed over to corporate interests.

05/05/2026

When proposals to use public lands for housing started surfacing last year, we pushed for answers. This story digs into the questions still hanging over those proposals, and how The Wilderness Society used mapping, records requests, and public pressure to demand transparency and accountability.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3QKPMXp

Last March, the Trump administration announced an initiative to build affordable housing on federal property. And then it went quiet. Is this an innovative idea—or an ongoing attempt at a public lands selloff?

05/04/2026

What does “en bloc” mean and why should we care?

Michael Carroll, Campaign Director at The Wilderness Society, joined the Outdoor Minimalist podcast to unpack how the Senate just advanced 49 nominees in one vote, including the controversial nomination of Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management.

When all the nominees are bundled together, it’s harder to track who’s responsible for what, limiting transparency and accountability.

Listen to the episode here:

05/01/2026

For millions of students, access to outdoor spaces starts at school. A new bill, introduced by Sen. Heinrich (D-NM) and Rep. Lee (D-PA), would help fund projects to transform schoolyards into green outdoor learning spaces, benefiting nearly 50 million children across the country.

Learn more:

For millions of students, access to outdoor spaces starts at school. A new bill would grant funds to turn asphalt schoolyards into outdoor living areas, benefitting millions of students across the cou...

05/01/2026

Recently, scientists at The Wilderness Society found that wildfires more often started near roads than in wilderness, roadless areas, or anywhere else in national forests.

So, building roads into roadless areas is likely to result in more fires.

The administration should pay attention to this research and the decades of research that have come before it, and base its policy reforms on sound science that shows keeping ecosystems intact and public lands protected ensures healthy, resilient landscapes now and for future generations.

Learn more about this research here: https://bit.ly/4snHJ06

04/30/2026

Attacks on both public lands protections and affordable housing programs are accelerating. But we know we need real housing solutions without sacrificing our shared public lands.

That’s why a broad coalition of national and regional affordable housing organizations, conservation groups, and tribal housing advocates has come together around a shared idea: protecting public lands and addressing housing affordability aren’t competing priorities, they are complementary.

Learn more about this unprecedented alliance: https://bit.ly/4mY7xOU

Leaders of the affordable housing and public lands community unveil “Shared Ground” affirming that protecting public lands and expanding affordable housing are complementary, not competing, priorities.

04/30/2026

Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks national monuments are our common ground—places that conserve wildlife habitat, safeguard drinking water, and protect lands rich in culture and history. For Tribal Nations, this landscape is their ancestral and current homelands where people continue to practice their traditions, gather foods and medicines, and care for sacred places. Learn what makes these places so special, from the people who know them best.

National monuments endure because people choose to defend them. Stand with Friends of Rio Grande del Norte and Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and take action with The Wilderness Society to protect our common ground, both now and for future generations: https://bit.ly/4mtMRy2

In memory of Kevin Whitefeather

Featuring:

Reverend Andrew Black
Director of Land and Rivers for National Wildlife Federation & EarthKeepers 360

Kyla Navarro
Policy and Community Coordinator, Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks

Gilbert Morales
Veteran

Johana Bencomo
Mayor Pro Tem, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Rocio Ronquillo
Friends of the Rio Bosque

Kevin Whitefeather
Whitefeather Native Cultural Tours

Rueben Roybal
Veteran

Nick Streit
Executive Director, Friends of Rio Grande del Norte

Patrick Nolan
Executive Director, Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks