Entries by Margosia Jadkowski

Why continue to invest in public lands?

October 31, 2025- Since January, we have seen a steady stream of efforts to weaken protections for public lands, from proposals to sell off large swaths of land, to executive orders and administrative rule changes altering how they are managed. In the face of these challenges, we have received variations of the same question from […]

Annie Creek added to Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness

October 17, 2025- The Payette Land Trust and Wilderness Land Trust partnered to purchase a 94-acre private inholding within Idaho’s Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in August 2024, safeguarding Annie Creek from development. This property was recently transferred into public ownership, adding it to the designated wilderness area. The Annie Creek property is located near […]

960 acres protected in California’s Bodie Hills

October 3, 2025- Where the high peaks of the eastern Sierra and Yosemite National Park meet the sagebrush steppe, the Bodie Hills of California remain one of the state’s most ecologically intact landscapes with some of its highest biodiversity. Here The Wilderness Land Trust recently acquired a 960-acre property adjoining the Granite Mountain Wilderness area, removing […]

Public access protected as the Weminuche Wilderness grows

September 19, 2025- Earlier this summer the Trust transferred our 30-acre Needle Creek property, adding it to the Weminuche Wilderness. Last week we built off that momentum, transferring our 31-acre Great Western Lode properties to also be added to the Weminuche, once again growing Colorado’s largest wilderness area. The Great Western Lode project is made […]

Protecting bat habitat in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness

September 5, 2025- Given that many of the private wilderness inholdings that we work to protect are old mining claims, it’s not uncommon to find open mine shafts or adits, the horizontal passages used to access underground mines, on them. When we do, it is important to close them off before the property becomes public lands […]

Catching up with an old friend: Lundy Canyon

August 22, 2025-   This summer, while working on projects in the nearby Bodie Hills, our staff had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend, our Lundy Canyon project, to see what successful protection of this once-vulnerable property looks like three years after it transferred to public ownership. Today nothing separates the property […]

Public Access to Achenbach Canyon Protected

August 8, 2025- In southern New Mexico, the Organ Mountains Wilderness covers just shy of 20,000 acres of varied habitat, from the lower elevation Chihuahuan Desert to the rugged Organ Mountains, named for their rock spires resembling organ pipes. Located just miles from Las Cruces, New Mexico’s second largest city, the wilderness area and surrounding […]

Washington’s Wild Sky Wilderness grows with transfer of 15 properties

July 25, 2025- About an hour east of Seattle, the Wild Sky Wilderness spans over 100,000 acres of roaring streams and high peaks. In addition to the ecological importance of it’s temperate rainforests, salmon spawning grounds and alpine habitat, the Wild Sky Wilderness provides close-to-home recreation opportunities for Seattle’s 4 million residents. The Trust recently […]