This September, gather up your maps, pack your bags, and rally your volunteers, staff, and coalition partners for Wilderness Week, a biannual convergence upon the nation's capital to advocate for protection of our wild public lands.

Join wilderness advocates from across the country in Washington for workshops, events, meetings with decision-makers, and a chance to share lessons from current campaigns and strategize about ways to preserve our heritage of wilderness in the years to come.

Wilderness Week activities will kick off the evening of Sunday, September 10 with a welcome to Washington reception. There will be a half day of workshops on Monday, and the rest of the week will feature evening networking and socializing opportunities, educational brown bag lunch sessions, and a Congressional Wilderness Reception on September 12 to honor our wilderness champions. Groups will have the rest of the time to hold their own campaign-specific strategy sessions, meet with Members of Congress and their staffs, and hold other events during the week. Wilderness Week will end with a rally for the Arctic Refuge on Wednesday, September 13.

We hope you will organize a delegation of people to come to Washington this September to gather new ideas, build alliances, motivate and train staff and volunteers, and spend time with leaders on Capitol Hill. And together, we’ll raise the profile of wilderness in Washington, DC at a critical time for all of us.

If you are interested in coming to Wilderness Week, contact Michael Carroll with The Wilderness Society’s Wilderness Support Center at (970) 247-8788, or Jen Schmidt with Campaign for America’s Wilderness (503) 282-9453. There will be sponsorship opportunities for groups wishing to participate in the Congressional Wilderness Reception, as well as a number of scholarships for staff and volunteers to travel to Washington.

See you in September!