Building impact across a landscape in the San Juan Mountains

June 12, 2026-

The Wilderness Land Trust recently acquired Eastern Rebel Boy, a 6.7-acre property within the Red Cloud Peak Wilderness Study Area of southwest Colorado. Like so many of the small properties we work to protect, there is inherent value in removing every opportunity for development within our wild places, no matter the size. But the impact of protecting Eastern Rebel Boy spreads beyond its boundaries as part of a landscape-scale effort the Trust has undertaken in recent years.

The Uncompahgre Wilderness meets the American Flats, Handies Peak, and Red Cloud Peak Wilderness Study Areas in the high alpine and sweeping vistas of the San Juan Mountains. Remnants of the area’s rich mining history scatter the mountainsides, including the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway— 63 miles of old mining roads turned off-road vehicle destination, which winds through seven ghost towns and traverses two high passes. In addition to OHV users, the area draws recreationists of all kinds, with several 14,000’+ peaks, the famous views and summer wildflower displays of American Basin, the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, and many alpine lakes.

Over the past 3 years, the Trust has acquired a total of 32 properties covering just shy of 300 acres in this area. In addition to securing access for hikers, backpackers, and climbers on several popular trails, and preserving scenic viewsheds for all recreationists who visit the area, our cumulative impact has helped to unify ownership across the landscape, removing barriers for possible future wilderness designations. The Eastern Rebel Boy property now joins this effort. Located on a flat, buildable rocky bench carved into the slopes rising from the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway to the 14,005 ft summit of Sunshine Peak, the property adjoins one of the Trust’s other previously acquired properties.

We are currently working with other conservation-minded property owners in the area to pursue additional acquisitions that would add to this landscape-scale impact, securing even more public recreation access, preserving connected wildlife habitats, and removing management conflicts. Join us in this work by making a donation today!

Protecting the slopes of Colorado’s Mount Champion

May 15, 2026-

The Trust recently completed the transfer of 194 acres on the slopes of Mount Champion, just outside the Mount Massive Wilderness, to the San Isabel National Forest in Colorado.

The Champion Mine South property, which stretches from the North Fork of Lake Creek almost to the summit of Mount Champion, includes remnants of the Champion Mine which was active from 1907-1940 mining gold, silver, copper, and lead. The property is being transferred to public ownership in two phases— this first 194-acre phase, and a second 40-acre phase that will follow at a later date.

Along with the remnants of Champion Mine, a mill site where ore was processed was also located on the 40-acre portion of the property that will transfer later. The 50-ton mill used mercury to dissolve gold from ore that was pulled from the mine and crushed, resulting in a denser material that could more easily be separated from the remaining ore. It was then heated to distill off the mercury for reuse, leaving behind gold particles. This process commonly resulted in waste tailings contaminated with heavy metals.

Last year the Trust completed extensive environmental testing for mercury and other heavy metals on the property in partnership with the EPA-led Mixed Ownership Group, which consists of federal and state agencies, local governments, and non-governmental organizations focused on completing assessments and remedial actions on abandoned mine lands throughout Colorado. The testing all came back within safe levels, an important step to ensure the property is wilderness-ready before becoming public lands. With this due diligence completed, the second phase of the transfer is moving forward.

Collecting samples on the property with members of the EPA-led Mixed Ownership Group.

The property was generously donated to the Trust in 2023 by local landowner Amy Margerum Berg: “My late husband, Charles “Chuck” McLean, had the foresight to purchase these mining claims with the intent of protecting them from development. My son, Slater McLean, and I are so proud to be donating this land in his honor. He loved this land more than anything and spent hours exploring and hiking every inch of this spectacular backcountry wilderness. He would be very happy to know that the land will now be protected forever.”

The popular North Fork Lake Creek Trail leads hikers, backpackers, and horsemen into the 30,000-acre Mount Massive Wilderness and runs through the base of the Champion Mine South property. Protecting the property under public ownership ensures public access on the trail and mitigates the management and liability concerns that have recently cut off access to several of Colorado’s 14ers. The project also protects important wildlife habitat, spanning from streamside riparian zones to alpine meadows above treeline, and is home to bighorn sheep.

Celebrating Conservation Excellence

May 1, 2026-

The Wilderness Land Trust has been awarded accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission through a comprehensive third-party evaluation.

The accreditation process verifies that we have demonstrated fiscal accountability, strong organizational leadership, sound transactions, and lasting stewardship.

The Trust first received accreditation in 2008, joining the more than 470 accredited land trusts across the country that are committed to meeting the highest standards in conservation. We have since gone through reaccreditation three times.

Our commitment to conservation excellence, reflected in this accreditation, is not just in service of our mission to protect wild places, it ensures our values are implemented in how we work every day: that our supporters know their generosity is having a direct impact, that our partnerships are built on respect, and that every landowner we work with is treated with professionalism and fairness.

Alaska’s Chuck River Wilderness grows with 28-acre transfer

April 20, 2026-

In Southeast Alaska, the Tongass National Forest covers almost 17 million acres of coastline and temperate rainforest. It is the nation’s largest national forest, and about 35% of it is designated as wilderness in 19 wilderness areas.

Within it, the Trust recently transferred our 28-acre Chuck River Bend property to public ownership to be added to the Chuck River Wilderness.

The property, accessible by boat only at high tide, sits where the Chuck River flows into Windham Bay. Its open meadows are prime pink salmon fishing grounds for Alaskan brown bear, and also have blueberries, salmon berries, and devil’s club, which are other important food sources for bears.

Chuck River Bend is the third property the Trust has protected as wilderness in the Tongass National Forest since we began working in Alaska in 2017.

Learn more about our recent Alaska projects in this virtual site visit video from a few summers ago.

 

Join our Team: Director of Major Gifts

April 13, 2026-

We’re Hiring a Director of Major Gifts!

The Wilderness Land Trust seeks a fundraising professional with proven major gifts experience to serve as Director of Major Gifts on a part-time (0.5 FTE) basis. This is a permanent, ongoing position—not a limited contract. The Trust is looking for someone with a deep understanding of nonprofit development, a commitment to building meaningful relationships with donors, a multi-year track record of successful fundraising, the courage and confidence to make in-person solicitations for meaningful gifts, and strong alignment with the mission of wilderness conservation.

See the full job description for more information.

So long and happy trails to Liz!

April 3, 2026-

Next week we’re saying ‘so long’ to Liz, our Director of Philanthropy, and sending her off on her next adventure as she and her husband Todd retire to spend more time long-distance backpacking. Liz hopes to hike all 11 National Scenic Trails in ten years, starting with a return to the Continental Divide Trail, which she hiked in 2024.

Many of you who have had the opportunity to connect with Liz already know her passion for wild places and her belief in the power of community. Since joining the Trust, Liz has been an invaluable member of our team, putting that passion to work to help advance nearly every aspect of our fundraising work.

“Leaving the Wilderness Land Trust is bittersweet because the wilderness values that brought me here are the same ones that are calling me back to the trail. My time here has been a highlight of my career in philanthropy. I’m lucky to have been part of such a dedicated, expert, and kindhearted team, especially during a challenging time for public lands and conservation in general,” says Liz. “Day by day, year by year, the Trust’s staff, board members, donors, and partners are working together to add acres to protected wilderness, and lifting each other up while we do it. It’s hard to imagine a better day job.”

Spring Newsletter 2026 Crossword Answers

Join us in welcoming David Hartwell to our Board of Directors!

March 20, 2026-

Residing in Minnesota, David is semi-retired after a long stint in various manufacturing businesses, the longest being 27 years in the composites industry, where he built a company with manufacturing capacity of 50M square feet annually. He currently serves on numerous company boards and as an advisor to various businesses.

He also has extensive experience on non-profit, foundation, and governmental boards. He was the founding president of the Minnesota Land Trust and served on the Land Trust Alliance board in numerous capacities for 23 years. In 2000, he launched and then led an effort which resulted 8 years later in a constitutional amendment raising the sales tax in Minnesota that is now providing $450M annually for habitat, clean water, parks and cultural habitat. David graduated from the school of hard knocks, is married to Amy Hartwell, whom he travels extensively with, is an avid birdwatcher and gardener and has a blended family of 7 children, 8 grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

The Trust’s volunteer Board of Directors has 17 members, spread across the country. Their extensive and invaluable expertise help to steer the Trust’s work as our governing body. We look forward to all that David will bring to our Board!

Trail access, redwoods, and steelhead spawning grounds protected in California’s Central Coast

March 6, 2026-

Along California’s Central Coast, the Pacific Ocean meets mountains in one of the nation’s most significant biodiversity hotspots. Here, over 35 endangered species make their homes in the narrow canyons, chaparral, and old-growth forests. The Ventana Wilderness protects over 240,000 acres of this critical habitat. In 2020, a family wishing to see this landscape they love protected for future generations generously donated their 87-acre property to The Wilderness Land Trust. The Trust recently transferred the property, known as Little Sur River, to public ownership to be added to Los Padres National Forest.

The Little Sur River property sits between the Ventana Wilderness to the south and another section of Los Padres National Forest, which was previously landlocked by private property, to the north. Its transfer to public ownership has not only connected those two sections of public lands, it has also ensured public access on two trails running through the property

“Our gratitude goes out to the Wilderness Land Trust for leading the effort to add the Little Sur River parcel to our treasured public lands,” says Ventana Wilderness Alliance Executive Director, Carol Olson. “This transfer of private lands to public ownership advances our shared goal to protect wilderness values in the Big Sur backcountry.”

This transfer has also protected a tributary to the South Fork of the Little Sur River, the Central Coast’s most important and pristine spawning grounds for the threatened South-Central Coast steelhead trout. Today, only an estimated 100 fish return to the Little Sur River each year to spawn, making every foot protected of its sheltered cold water tributaries critical for their survival. The property is also home to an old-growth stand of coastal redwoods, which can grow to over 350 feet in height and live for 2,000 years.

This is the 7th property protected by the Trust in and around the Ventana Wilderness, totaling over 830 acres.

Washington’s Mt. Baker Wilderness grows with transfer of inholding property

February 20, 2026-

The Wilderness Land Trust recently completed the transfer of 21 acres within Washington’s Mount Baker Wilderness to public ownership, adding it to the designated wilderness area.

Within the Fourth of July Lode property, high in the alpine, sits one of the remaining 13 glaciers in the Mount Baker Wilderness. Glaciers across the North Cascades have been steadily losing volume over the last several decades. As glaciers shrink due to a changing climate, the ecosystems that depend on them become increasingly vulnerable. A study found the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest provides $30 billion worth of ecosystem services that we depend on, like the clean air and clean water which sustain life, and every dollar invested in the Forest returns over $3,000 in ecosystem services.

Removing this threat of development from the Fourth of July Lode property will not only yield returns for future generations through these ecosystem services, but also help bolster the resilience of the surrounding wilderness ecosystems by improving their connectivity.

The Trust first purchased the property from a private owner whose family it had been in since the early 1900s gold rush. Now that it has been transferred to public ownership it is protected as designated wilderness, which enjoys the highest level of protection available to public lands that can only be altered by an act of Congress, not executive orders or other administration directives.

The Fourth of July Lode property is the 16th property the Trust has transferred to public ownership in Washington within the last year as part of our North Cascades campaign.