education & empowerment campaign
Inspire and empower citizens to take action to assure that Wilderness remains protected forever.
Awareness – Information – Action!
The purpose of Wilderness Watch's Education & Empowerment Campaign (EEC) is to increase the number of knowledgeable Wilderness defenders among the public, the conservation community, land management agencies and within Congress. This Campaign is premised on the belief that preserving authentic Wilderness and the values that make it unique will require the constant vigilance and efforts of knowledgeable citizens in each new generation to defend Wilderness against the many harms that regularly threaten it. Active and spirited citizen defense is key to assuring that Wilderness remains protected, day after day, year after year, forever.
To accomplish this mission, the Education and Empowerment Campaign consists of three tiers that form a continuum:
- Build greater awareness, through education, of the many harms that are occurring to Wilderness and diminishing Wilderness qualities throughout the National Wilderness Preservation System, so that more people will be inspired to take action in defense of Wilderness;
- Empower inspired citizens to actively engage in Wilderness defense by developing the knowledge and skills they will need in order to address threats to Wilderness as well-informed and capable Wilderness defenders; and
- Support citizens' efforts to take action in defense of Wilderness by serving as a resource where people can obtain technical assistance, information, advice, and encouragement.
Effective Wilderness defense and appropriate stewardship require knowledge regarding the history of the Wilderness Act, the Act's intent and specific provisions, other applicable laws and court decisions, wilderness policies and regulations of the federal land management agencies, and awareness of the real challenges and harms facing wilderness 'on the ground.'
To build this knowledge base, specific components of our Education and Empowerment Campaign include Wilderness Training Forums for citizen activists, a Wilderness Activists' Handbook, preparation and distribution of white papers, The Guardian, our online Wilderness news digest, the Wildnet -- the only listserv in the country dedicated solely to wilderness stewardship, and the Wilderness Watcher, our quarterly newsletter.
In our vision, a successful Education and Empowerment Campaign means that the wilderness character of every Wilderness as well as the condition of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a whole will embody the full spirit and intent of the Wilderness Act as special places forever set apart from the technologies and contrivances of our modern world. A successful Campaign will mean that the many tangible and intangible qualities of wilderness character will remain intact and in abundance, undiminished over time, for every future generation to know and enjoy.
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