Wild Virginia Incorporated

Wild Virginia works to preserve and support the complexity, diversity and stability of natural ecosystems by enhancing connectivity, water quality and climate in the forests, mountains, and waters of Virginia through education and advocacy.

Energy​ ​Extraction​ ​and​ ​Infrastructure​ – We continue to fight fracking and other types of oil and gas drilling in Virginia's national forests. We take citizens, media, students and elected representatives on tours to see first-hand the impacts of this destructive industry. As part of this campaign, we are committed to stopping the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipelines.

Virginia​ ​Water​ ​Protection – Wild Virginia hosts Water Quality Monitoring trainings with Trout Unlimited to teach volunteers how to monitor water quality and protect our public lands from fracking and fracking infrastructure.

Outings and Education – Wild Virginia organizes and leads interpretive hikes. We believe that the places you experience are the places you come to love and care about. Our Wild and Scenic Film Festivals inspire citizens to action through our Film Festivals in Charlottesville and Staunton each year.

Forest Service​ ​Project​ ​Monitoring – Wild Virginia monitors all timber sales and other proposed projects in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.

Habitat​ ​Connectivity – We have partnered with the Wildlands Network to protect and connect habitat for wildlife in Virginia.

Wild Virginia has emerged as a leader in Virginia. We empower citizens to get involved in protecting wild places in Virginia.

Wild Virginia is a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to conserving wild forest ecosystems in Virginia's national
forests. Founded in 1995, Wild Virginia informs the public about issues, threats, and opportunities for these forests through
outreach and education. Using our membership voice and mobilizing public action, we advocate for the protection of the many
natural attributes of the forests, including supplying drinking water, providing habitat for rare species, and supporting
biodiversity. A key focus for Wild Virginia is the creation and preservation of unique and irreplaceable sites in the forest,
including areas designated by the US Forest Service (USFS) as Roadless, Wilderness, and Special Biological Areas.
Wild Virginia participates in the management process of the George Washington National Forest (GWNF) and the Jefferson
National Forest (JNF). Our staff and volunteers monitor all projects and work to minimize the damage caused to forests,
water, and wildlife by the USFS activities such as timber sales, road building, and energy development. We do this through a
variety of tactics and strategies including formally commenting on proposed projects, meeting with Forest Service staff,
encouraging and educating the public, studying threatened areas, appealing damaging projects and in some cases, litigating to
protect critical habitat.

We bring the public to the forests through outings, special events, public presentations, action alerts, social media, and
participation in the forest planning process. Our primary focus has been education, outreach, and organizing to exert
pressure on the USFS for conservation-based, ecologically appropriate management of the GWNF and JNF. We are committed to challenging hydrofracking and oil and gas leasing projects in the forest. We believe that resource extraction and energy
development should be de-emphasized as management objectives in favor of strategies to restore the ecological health of the
forest and watersheds, maintain viable populations of native wildlife populations, minimize threats to biodiversity, and
provide enhanced recreational opportunities. This year, we expanded our mission to include efforts to protect and connect
all wild lands and waters in Virginia. Wild Virginia's outreach and education program is very successful and we have over
450 members, 300 volunteers, and 56 organizational partners who contribute to and coordinate with our efforts.