WV Celebrates WV's 150th

We know we're not the only WV out there.  The fine state of West Virginia is celebrating their sesquicentennial this week.  It's a state that has an abundance of wild lands and that's worth celebrating!  

This fall we'll be running our third consecutive service project in West Virginia wilderness. Our trip to the Dolly Sods wilderness is all full this year (you can always join the waitlist), so be sure to sign up early when next year's schedule is released.

A photo from WV's 2012 project in Dolly Sods Wilderness

In the meantime, our friends at The Nature Conservancy have released this travel guide to help you discover some of the great natural areas you can explore in the Wild and Wonderful state. Enjoy!

Wilderness Forever Photo Contest

Calling All WV Shutterbugs! The "Wilderness Forever" public photography competition is currently accepting entries of images illustrating the sheer majesty, diversity, and value of our nation's wilderness areas. This professionally-juried contest is conducted by the 50th Anniversary National Wilderness Planning Team (Wilderness50), Nature's Best Photography, and the Smithsonian Institution, and will run through September 3, 2013 (the 49th anniversary of the Wilderness Act).

Approximately 50 winning contest entries will be chosen for display as large format prints in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History as part of a 2014 exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Entries will be judged in the following Categories: Scenic Landscape, Wildlife, People in Wilderness, and Most Inspirational Moment. Detailed contest guidelines and entry instructions are found online at http://www.naturesbestphotography.com/wilderness.

This is one of the many events that the Wilderness50 team is organizing specifically designed to elevate the profile of wilderness during the lead up to 50th anniversary celebration in 2014. WV is proud to be a member of this growing coalition of federal agencies, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and other wilderness user groups whose purpose is to plan and eventually implement local, regional, and national events and projects.

We invite WV participants to enter, because we know you are skilled photographers as is evident at the WV Photo Gallery.

Steens Mountain Wilderness, photo by John Sherman

WV Receives Presidential Volunteer Service Award

We were happy to receive this award and accompanying letter from President Obama in the mail this week.  This recognition was prompted by our agency partners at the Sierra National Forest, due to our continuing service project in the John Muir Wilderness.  Space is still available to join this project in California's Sierra National Forest, applauded by the White House, which runs August 11-17.

Sierra NF's Partnership Coordinator, Chor Yang, thanked WV for our "untiring commitment and unyielding dedication." We are grateful to all WV trip participants for joining in the effort to give something back as we celebrate and sustainably steward our country's wild lands.