Join Wilderness Workshop to protect the integrity and future of our public lands!
The Public Land Protection Fund
In response to the significant and direct attacks on our public lands, wildlife, and climate, Wilderness Workshop is taking decisive action to safeguard our conservation victories and counter new threats to our public lands. We remain committed to our long-term proactive campaigns to protect local wildlands, water, and wildlife, and we must also ensure that our recent conservation gains are maintained and that local landscapes are protected from extractive uses.
Annual Strategic Protection Budget: $300,000
Your contribution directly supports our Public Lands protection and defense strategy, including:
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Working with Colorado elected representatives from both parties to protect our wildlife and public lands and waters
- Mobilizing community and political advocacy for the places we cherish most
- Minimizing impacts of federal funding gaps on western Colorado’s public lands
- Utilizing rapid response communications and advocacy to counter poor decision-making from Washington, D.C.
- Defending critical landscapes like the Thompson Divide, the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument, and roadless areas
- Resisting the rapid expansion of oil and gas leasing and drilling on our public lands
The Protection Fund will go to preventing impacts like these: Colorado’s beautiful backcountry dotted with oil and gas pads. Gas pads like these pollute local rivers, disrupt animal habitats, and create significant carbon emissions.
Your gift comes with meaningful benefits
Commitments of $10,000 or more will be recognized as Public Land Protection Fund Founders
- Listed in printed and online materials as a Public Land Protection Fund supporter
- Special recognition at some WW events and in our newsletter and annual report
- Quarterly updates from Executive Director Will Roush
- Exclusive invitations to special events, including a cocktail reception honoring our Protection Fund supporters
- Maroon Bells Circle membership
Your support helps ensure that in 2026, Wilderness Workshop will have the resources to stand our ground for public lands—ready to defend, bring voices together, and lead thoughtful, science-based advocacy that protects wilderness, keeps water clean, and cares for these landscapes with integrity.
Make a Gift Today
Fighting Back
Over a year into the Trump administration, Western Colorado’s public lands are being directly impacted. Over 250,000 acres of public lands have been offered for sale to oil and gas companies, logging projects are being approved, new roads and motorized recreation are proposed in critical wildlife habitat, and local voices are being sidelined.
To counter these threats, Wilderness Workshop has hired new staff and combined forces with the Colorado Wildlands Project to safeguard our most precious wildlands; places like the Thompson Divide, Roadless Areas, and Wilderness Study Areas.
Protecting Our Backyard
Our public lands are more than just vital wildlife habitats rich in biodiversity—they are the landscapes we explore, the watersheds we rely on, the foundation for local economies, and the breathtaking scenery that defines our home. Together, we’ve helped protect over half a million acres of Wilderness around the Roaring Fork Valley, stop dam construction in some of our favorite drainages like Castle and Maroon Creeks, take over 1 million acres off the table for oil and gas leasing, and secure long-term protections for places like the Thompson Divide, among other protections across western Colorado.
Meet our 2025 Public Land Protection Fund Founders
Join us in protecting the lands we love… because their future depends on us.
To learn more about the Public Land Protection Fund please reach out to Will Roush at Will@wildernessworkshop.org
