2025 Wilderness Stewardship Performance Grants Awarded
Twenty-six National Forest wilderness areas supported with $125,000 in funding
The National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance (NWSA) 2025 Wilderness Stewardship Performance (WSP) Funding Program awarded $125,000 to 10 Wilderness Stewardship Performance projects in designated wilderness areas across the nation this March. Through this funding program, non-profit partner organizations and their volunteer stewards work with Forest Service partners to complete much needed wilderness stewardship work on Forest Service wilderness areas. The organizations funded this year will spend the upcoming field season educating diverse wilderness users, monitoring opportunities for solitude, and conducting inventory and monitoring of trails, recreation sites, and invasive species while engaging wilderness stewards and wilderness visitors across their communities. Together these projects will result in Wilderness Stewardship Performance score increases in 26 wilderness areas spanning seven Forest Service regions and will engage nearly 400 volunteers in 10,000 hours of wilderness stewardship work, leveraging federal dollars at a 2:1 ratio.
“The National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance is thrilled to support our robust network of hard-working and dedicated wilderness stewardship organizations through this ongoing partnership with the USDA Forest Service,” said Joelle Marier, Executive Director of National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance. “Partner organizations are vitally important to ensuring our nation’s wilderness areas are cared for year to year. They lend crucial capacity and local knowledge to ensure our nation’s most highly protected landscapes are preserved for future generations to benefit from and enjoy. Amidst current Forest Service staffing and budget cuts, passionate stewards will be the glue holding stewardship programs together through this drastic change”.
Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS) crew working in the Lewis Fork Wilderness.
The Wilderness Stewardship Performance grant program is a partnership between the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance and the USDA Forest Service. Since its inception in 2016, the program has resulted in over $8.8 million worth of wilderness stewardship projects completed with $2.6 million in federal dollars invested. Grants support non-profit organizations conducting wilderness stewardship activities that contribute to improvement of Forest Service Wilderness Stewardship Performance scores for federally designated wilderness areas in the U.S. Wilderness Stewardship Performance is a suite of activities the Forest Service uses to measure their wilderness stewardship accomplishments and improve accountability in wilderness management. Applications are accepted each fall (with available funding) and awards are announced early the following year.
Congratulations to the organizations receiving awards this year!
Ascend Wilderness Experience
Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation
Friends of Mount Evans & Lost Creek Wildernesses
Friends of Nevada Wilderness
Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Sitka Conservation Society
Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards
Ventana Wilderness Alliance
Wild Arizona
Wyoming Wilderness Association
Wilderness areas supported:
ALASKA
Pleasant/Lemusurier/Inian Islands Wilderness
West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness
South Baranof Wilderness
ARIZONA
Fossil Springs Wilderness
Wet Beaver Wilderness
West Clear Creek Wilderness
Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness
Munds Mountain Wilderness
CALIFORNIA
Trinity Alps Wilderness
Marble Mountain Wilderness
Silver Peak Wilderness
Ventana Wilderness
COLORADO
Mount Evans Wilderness
IDAHO
Gospel Hump Wilderness
KENTUCKY
Beaver Creek Wilderness
Clifty Wilderness
MONTANA
Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex
Great Bear Wilderness
Scapegoat Wilderness
NEVADA
La Madre Mountain Wilderness
Mt. Charleston Wilderness
WYOMING
Bridger Wilderness
Cloud Peak Wilderness
Gros Ventre Wilderness
Teton Wilderness
Jedediah Smith Wilderness
