Wilderness Society

Until now, I had been a member of The Wilderness Society since 1974. I've worked on wilderness trail crews, hiked in more than 50 wilderness areas, served as a wilderness steward for the Forest Service. TWS used to be an excellent pro-wilderness organization. But in recent years, it rebranded as sort of a "we like all public lands" organization, and watered down its advocacy for wilderness areas. Current website and publications rarely mention protecting designated wilderness, and instead talk about parks and public lands generally. Akin to Mothers Against Drunk Driving downplaying its work against DUI and instead spending most of its time on general highway safety issues. Also, TWS has gotten deeply involved in social issues (gender, race, etc) and DEI. It no longer publishes the excellent Living Wilderness magazine, which used to offer many pages of deep, detailed stores on real wildlands, along with poetry. Now, all I get is an 8-page newsletter that typically says nothing about wilderness, but is written very simplistically and goes on at length about public lands generally and often about social issues. Very disappointing. So I am not going to renew my membership. We need an organization that defends genuine wilderness!

This organization is doing spectacular work to protect public lands of all kinds, from national wilderness areas to local parks and green spaces in cities and towns. The staffing is lean and their effectiveness is unquestioned.

2014 was a particularly successful year in terms of conservation legislation, coalition building in local regions and other achievements.

Their regional offices in Montana, Maine, Colorado, North Carolina, California, New Mexico, and Arizona are very effective working with local advocates. Their scientists and lobbyists are also very skilled and dedicated.

TWS has really been turning things around in the past 2 years, revenues are up and leadership has turned over with a greater focus and clarity on the mission. Additionally, they have secured some great wins over the past several years.

The Wilderness Society (TWS) appears to be suffering from financial difficulties. The report for 2011 indicates revenue of approximately $25 mil and expenses of approximately $33 million resulting in an annual deficit of approximately $8. million. Their fundraising expenses as a % of revenue are too high, their fund raising efficiency is too low; e.g. I receive far too many solicitations that become annoying. Administrative expenses are too high with the TWS president leading at over $300,000. annual salary. Why cannot these 'charities' reside in a lower cost area outside of the expensive Washington D.C. area? How about headquartering in an area closer to the wilderness and hire employees who have a passion for the wilderness who can live much cheaper in a location other than in the D.C. area; e.g. South Dakota. Part of the answer is the recognition that much of their 'work' relates to lobbying and the need to be close to the legislative branch. But does everyone have to reside in the high rent district?

Although I've contributed several times to this charity I think the executive pay is excessive, especially when you consider they have an $8 million deficit. They spend way too much on fund-raising as I can attest because I receive a solicitation every other day.

I received a donation solicitation in the mail. I have never donated to this charity & don't plan to do so until they can prove to me that they are being more fiscally responsible with their expenses. I realize that staff need to be paid a reasonable sum of money. However over $300K to the president does not seem like a reasonable sum to me. Also running at a loss of over $8 million does not demonstrate a good use of donor funds.

I've been a member for 50 years and admire how the Wilderness Society has become more effective over the years. When I worked for the Bureau of Land Management I saw how the society defended BLM's wilderness program against opposition from industries that would have destroyed our heritage of roadless wild lands. They collaborate with local conservation groups all over the country, and they know how to get things done in Washington DC.

I have been a contributor to The Wildernes Society for 20+ years. TWS does important work in promotong the idea of Wilderness as well as campaigning for Wilderness. My only gripe is they don't do enough to promote enforcement of existing Wilderness. Therefore in the past 5 years I have split my donation with Wilderness Watch which focuses on ensuring existing Wilderness laws are enforced.

In 2009 I discovered that they were double billing me. In 2010 I decided to renew, so used link that said, "Click here to renew your expired membership" and instead of sending me to a membership page, it sent me to a "donation" page. Enough is enough. I just unsubscribed from their mailings today.

I've been a donor for many years. More than almost any charity they have made a terrific effort to keep in touch and help me stay informed. They do incredibly valuable work. and they do it very well.

Here is my personal experience with this crooked "charity".

I made a donation. I believed this to be a one-time thing. However in the confirmation email, it said that it was a monthly donation. There was a link to the "Service Center" which turned out to be just a page showing my donations with NO other links to change my options. I immediately emailed them to stop the recurring payments. Here is the response I received.

We apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. We are looking into the issue right away and will get your monthly donation removed. Thank you for your patience.
Hali Young
The Wilderness Society

That was on August 29th and they are still charging my account! Unexpected charges to my checking account in this current economy is absolutely unacceptable. So I email them AGAIN to stop charging me and credit my account. Here is the response I received.

We will update our records to reflect the cancellation of your monthly donation via EFT. However, please keep in mind, that this request was received after the cut-off period for cancellations. An additional charge for this month will appear on your credit card statement. Cancellation will take place the following month.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Cristian Pando
Donor Services

WHAT!!!! They refuse to credit my account. I have forwarded my previous request and nothing. There are many many charities to donate to and I chose this one. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!