The Wilderness Society
“To protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places.”
3 live lawsuits, 4 comments to the agencies, 75 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
The Wilderness Society was founded in 1935 by Bob Marshall, Aldo Leopold, and others, and it wrote much of the intellectual foundation for the 1964 Wilderness Act. It works to protect wild public lands, with particular focus on the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service acres that make up the bulk of the federal estate. Its work blends policy, mapping, and on-the-ground campaigns to keep wild country wild.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “Uniting people to protect America's wild places.” as filed.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Connect, Protect, Steward Lands
$15.6M, 41% of spendingAmerica’s public lands face serious threats from efforts to open them to extractive industries like oil, gas and mining; rollbacks of existing protections for national monuments and wilderness areas; proposals to sell…
Including $866,637 granted onward, the largest share ($150,000) to The Wilderness Society Action Fund.
Read it as they filed it
CONNECT, PROTECT, STEWARD LANDS: AMERICA'S PUBLIC LANDS FACE SERIOUS THREATS FROM EFFORTS TO OPEN THEM TO EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES LIKE OIL, GAS AND MINING; ROLLBACKS OF EXISTING PROTECTIONS FOR NATIONAL MONUMENTS AND WILDERNESS AREAS; PROPOSALS TO SELL OR TRANSFER FEDERAL LANDS TO STATE OR PRIVATE OWNERSHIP; AND CUTS TO THE AGENCIES THAT MANAGE THESE PLACES. THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY ACTIVELY TRACKS AND RESPONDS TO THESE THREATS THROUGH ADVOCACY, LEGAL INTERVENTION, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION. WE WORK WITH COMMUNITIES, POLICYMAKERS AND RESEARCHERS TO ADVANCE SCIENCE-BASED, NONPARTISAN CONSERVATION POLICIES THAT HELP PROTECT CLEAN WATER, WILDLIFE HABITAT, OUTDOOR ACCESS, AND THE FREEDOM TO ENJOY PUBLIC LANDS NOW AND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Equitable Access
$4.5M, 12% of spendingEquitable access to hike, camp, and recreate on Federal lands is a key principle for ensuring communities benefit from and love their public lands.
Including $249,544 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
EQUITABLE ACCESS: EQUITABLE ACCESS TO HIKE, CAMP, AND RECREATE ON FEDERAL LANDS IS A KEY PRINCIPLE FOR ENSURING COMMUNITIES BENEFIT FROM AND LOVE THEIR PUBLIC LANDS. WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE IDEAL THAT WILDERNESS AND ALL PUBLIC LANDS CAN BRING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES TOGETHER AND THAT EVERYONE SHOULD SHARE EQUITABLY IN THEIR BENEFITS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Climate Solutions
$4.1M, 11% of spendingPublic lands are home to important wildlife habitat, migration corridors, recreation areas, and cultural resources valued by communities, Tribes, and the multi-billion dollar outdoor economy.
Including $226,802 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
CLIMATE SOLUTIONS: PUBLIC LANDS ARE HOME TO IMPORTANT WILDLIFE HABITAT, MIGRATION CORRIDORS, RECREATION AREAS, AND CULTURAL RESOURCES VALUED BY COMMUNITIES, TRIBES, AND THE MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR OUTDOOR ECONOMY. AT THE SAME TIME, THE WESTERN U.S. HAS EXCEPTIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY POTENTIAL, AND SOME OF OUR NATION'S BEST SOLAR, WIND, AND GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES ARE FOUND ON PUBLIC LANDS. IF APPROPRIATELY SITED AND SUBJECT TO ROBUST PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS CAN CREATE THOUSANDS OF JOBS, PROMOTE AMERICAN ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, AND REDUCE EMISSIONS.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
75 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$28,641,871 programs, $1,790,366 management, $7,617,309 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed on the record by Wilderness Society, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Kendeda Fund and 3 others, latest filing FY25.
The people
Who does the work
Took the helm from Jamie Williams, who drew $374,838 in the final year on file.
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. The FY2025 filing lists two people as executive director, Tracy Stone-Manning and Andrea O'Brien as interim, usually a handover inside the year. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at the Wilderness Society? Claim this page.
Those 32 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If the Wilderness Society is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe record
The court record
And 11 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
Fights alongside Sierra Club (9 shared cases), Center for Biological Diversity (6 shared cases), Natural Resources Defense Council (6 shared cases), Alaska Wilderness League (5 shared cases) and Defenders of Wildlife (5 shared cases) and 30 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $24,897,745 |
| 2012 | $24,862,909 |
| 2013 | $38,513,090 |
| 2014 | $31,433,422 |
| 2015 | $27,281,585 |
| 2016 | $31,206,439 |
| 2017 | $30,081,869 |
| 2018 | $42,837,683 |
| 2019 | $35,045,245 |
| 2020 | $39,480,932 |
| 2021 | $42,014,694 |
| 2022 | $62,637,504 |
| 2023 | $39,217,935 |
| 2025 | $38,258,071 |
From $24.9M in 2011 to $38.3M in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024).
On the Hill
The Wilderness Society files its own federal lobbying reports: 50 filings from 2019 to 2024, naming 16 bills. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources, the budget and real estate.
The record
On the record with the agencies
4 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov. The latest on decisions we track:
Year by year
The record, in order
- 1935The Wilderness Society is formed.the directory; the return’s own formation year is 1937
- 19971997 to 2025: 13 cases filed, all since closed: Wilderness Society v. Burgum; S. Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Burke and 11 more.the docket
The other 11
2017, Sierra Club, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Service, won; 2008, Wyoming v. United States Department of Agriculture, closed; 1997, Wilderness Society v. Dombeck, closed; 2011, Montana Wilderness Association v. Gene Terland, closed; 2009, Wilderness Society v. United States Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2001, Mountain States Legal Foundation v. Bush, won; 2020, Organized Village of Kake v. Vilsack, closed; 2020, Friends of Alaska Nat’l v. Debra Haaland, closed; 2023, Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2018, State of California v. Zinke, closed; 2025, Alaska Forest Association v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, won.
- 2017Wilderness Society v. Donald J. Trump: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 2020Gwich’in Steering Committee v. United States Department of the Interior: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 2021First appears in Kendeda Fund’s grants.the funder’s return
- 2022First appears in the grants of Wilderness Society, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Campion Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 2023State of Alaska v. The United States Department of Agriculture: intervenor, still in court.the docket
- 1 comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in Resources Legacy Fund’s grants.the funder’s return
- 2024First appears in Western Conservation Foundation’s grants.the funder’s return
- 20263 comments, most to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Rust, a case still in court. Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row is a record we hold: 16 federal cases with the group on the docket, 4 comments filed under its own name, 6 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
Has litigated the 211-mile Ambler industrial road since the original 2020 approvals
Who’s defending it In the fight · On this place: 1 case in federal court, filed 2017Bears Ears National MonumentCo-plaintiff in the litigation over the 2017 monument reduction
Who’s defending it On the ground · Critical threatArctic National Wildlife RefugeDecades of Arctic Refuge defense, in court and in Congress
Who’s defending it In the fight · Critical threatBoundary Waters Canoe Area WildernessPlaintiff in the federal litigation over the Twin Metals mine leases
Who’s defending it On the ground · On watchRio Grande del Norte National MonumentWorks to pass wilderness legislation for Cerro de la Olla inside the monument and joined the 2024 formal protest of the BLM resource management plan amendment.
Who’s defending it On the ground · On watchSan Gabriel Mountains National MonumentListed as an ally of the Nature for All coalition behind San Gabriel Mountains Forever.
Who’s defending itMost urgent first: open comment windows, then live federal cases, then the threat level. See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
The Wilderness Society files 2 related organizations on its return: The Wilderness Society Action Fund (501(c)(4)) and The Wilderness Society Action Fund PAC (527). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowFollow themBears Ears and Grand Staircase, tracked as they move. Alerts when it matters.
Monument WatchStand with the Wilderness Society
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.