The Harrisonburg Daily-News Record celebrates the Trust’s first project east of the Rockies protecting 10 acres adjoining Virginia’s Priest Wildernss
January 24, 2024
SF Gate celebrates the Trust’s recent transfer of 917 acres adjoining the Sanhedrin Wilderness to public ownership.
January 3
The Aspen Daily News celebrates the Trust’s recent acquisition of the 275-acre Champion Mine South property just outside the Mount Massive Wilderness.
December 1, 2023
Comprising the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, Alaska’s Tongass National Forest is a place filled with islands and salmon streams, where towering mountains sweep down into thick old-growth forest and granite cliffs drop into deep fjords Photo credit: Ingrid Ougland
March 25, 2022 – It’s been 30 years since The Wilderness Land Trust protected its first parcel of land. Nearly 25 years later we landed in Alaska, purchasing the largest remaining private inholding in the Chuck River Wilderness in partnership with the Southeast Alaska Land Trust. The 154-acre Windham Bay parcel was transferred to the public for permanent protection almost exactly a year ago.
Together we are now working to protect more wilderness in Alaska. The Kootznoowoo (Fortress of the Bears) and Chuck River Wilderness areas in the Tongass National Forest surround the Inside Passage waterway, connecting more than 2.2 million acres of public land. The size and connectivity of these wild lands filled with coastal rivers and rare muskeg wetlands provide a high level of resilience in the face of climate change that allow grizzlies, salmon, mountain goats, wolves and humpback whales to thrive. The Tlingit village of Angoon on Admiralty Island is home to more than 500 people. Several other rural communities, including the nearby village of Kake, depend on these wilderness areas for subsistence harvests.
Old mining equipment in the Chuck River Wilderness
Within the 2.2 million acres of public land, clusters of private lands left over from old mining camps exist, threatening the surrounding wilderness with the prospect of timber and mineral extraction as well as residential development.
The Wilderness Land Trust is now working to acquire two properties to prevent cabin development along Wheeler Creek and the Chuck River in the Kootznoowoo and Chuck River Wilderness areas, protecting the salmon, grizzly and black bears that call them home. When this work is complete, a total of 33 acres of new wild lands will be added to the Tongass National Forest and permanently protected from private development, safeguarding more than 2.2 million acres of public land they impact.
Please take the time to learn more about our work in Alaska and join our fight to save this extraordinary wilderness. If you’ve already joined our Alaska campaign, thank you for your support. We cannot do this work without you.
A Muskeg wetland in the Chuck River Wilderness. These wetlands tend to have a water table near the surface and the sphagnum moss forming in it can hold 15 to 30 times its own weight in water, making it an ideal habitat for a wide variety of plant and animal species.
A common sight along Southeast Alaska’s inside passage.
From Hercules Lode looking at Fancy Lake in the Holy Cross Wilderness
March 11, 2022 – Today we closed on two more parcels in the Holy Cross Wilderness of Colorado. These properties, the Chance and Hercules Lodes, total 25 acres and are located on the southwest side of the wilderness.
I had the good fortune of visiting these properties with my cousin, who happens to live close by. Until that day, my cousin was unfamiliar with my job and so, as we hiked past the wooden Holy Cross Wilderness sign, I described the mission of The Wilderness Land Trust and why our work is important. I told her that, while the ground we were walking on is thought to have the highest level of land protection, there are actually significant holes in that protection.
When we reached the first of the two parcels, the flat, beautiful 5-acre Hercules Lode which runs along the east shore of Fancy Lake, my cousin was shocked.
“This is private property?!”
I explained that these pieces of private land are not only a threat because of the opportunities for cabins to be built, mines dug, trees felled. They are a threat because they siphon off resources otherwise used to manage the surrounding wilderness. Their mere existence degrades the integrity of the wilderness area.
The good news is, The Wilderness Land Trust has a way to remove this threat and make our wilderness areas truly protected.
We’ve been at it for 30 years.
In Colorado alone, we have protected more than 6,000 acres of private land and the innumerable acres of surrounding public land with our work.
And today, we can add another 25 acres to that number.
We are grateful for all of our supporters who make our work protecting wilderness possible. We truly couldn’t do it without you.
-Kelly Conde, Wilderness Land Trust Lands Specialist
View of Mulhall Lake from Chance Lode
Photo of Hercules Lode which runs along the east side of Fancy Lake in the Holy Cross Wilderness
Looking down on the southeast corner of the Holy Cross Wilderness on the hike to Chance Lode
A spectacular view from the Northern Lode property
Feb. 25, 2022 – Today, The Wilderness Land Trust closed on the Northern Lode property, a 10-acre parcel on the eastern side of the Holy Cross Wilderness in Colorado. The Northern Lode is a true wilderness inholding, meaning it is completely surrounded by federally designated wilderness and will automatically become a new addition to the Holy Cross upon transfer.
I visited this property on a crisp, sunny day last October. The parcel is a three-mile trek into the wilderness area and sits just south of the 13,000-foot Homestake Peak on a steep, scree-filled slope.
As with every project site visit, this trip was a combination of pleasure and work. I got to punch through the first snow of the season, scramble up rocky slopes and soak in rugged ridgelines. I also investigated the remnants of old mining pits just off the property boundary and checked off another step towards acquisition. This trip ended up being my last wilderness hike of the year, closing another season of mountain wandering.
So now, in mid-winter, this property sits close in my mind and makes its acquisition that much sweeter to me.
We are so grateful to all of our supporters for helping us continue this great work. To date, we have protected 6,086 acres in Colorado and are actively working on acquiring another 55 acres in this state. Please check out our current Colorado work online and stay tuned for more good news from across the western United States!
-Kelly Conde, Wilderness Land Trust Lands Specialist
The view from the Trust’s Copper Glance Lode property
Feb. 4, 2022 – In 1992, attorney Jon Mulford worked with the U.S Forest Service (USFS) on several small land transactions outside of Aspen, Colorado. Through this experience, he discovered that private inholdings within the boundaries of federally designated wilderness were posing environmental threats to the landscape and creating management issues for the agency.
This information inspired Jon to develop a plan to acquire private properties within the wilderness designation and turn them over to public ownership. His vision was a national wilderness preservation system free from the threat of human development.
On February 6, 1992, Jon founded The Wilderness Land Trust to fulfill his vision. Since that time, The Trust has acquired and transferred 514 properties totaling 54,110 acres throughout the west, including 6,077 acres in Colorado.
The Trust’s Copper Glance Lode property
As the staff lead for projects in Colorado, I am honored to announce the purchase of our latest inholding where it all started. The Copper Glance Lode is a 10.33-acre property in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. This parcel sits in the scenic Queens Basin and was part of the former Copper Glance mining operation. With the Trust’s purchase of this parcel, Queens Basin is now free of the threat of development.
This year, The Wilderness Land Trust celebrates its 30th anniversary. I reached out to Jon Mulford and asked him for his thoughts. His response was simple, “Keep up the good work.” On behalf of our entire staff and board, we want to express how grateful we are to our supporters, project partners, agency staff and landowners who make our mission to protect wilderness possible.
Thank you Jon, for starting us on this journey. We promise to keep up the good work.
-Kelly Conde, Wilderness Land Trust Lands Specialist
Hearty volunteers in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness
Sept. 3, 2021 – The Wilderness Land Trust is deeply grateful for the invaluable partnerships formed on many of our projects and this summer was no exception. In August 2020, the Trust purchased the 19-acre Panama/Principal Lode property outside of Aspen, Colorado knowing extensive work needed to be completed on site before it could be incorporated into the surrounding Collegiate Peaks Wilderness.
To help with this effort, the Trust reached out to The Independence Pass Foundation (IPF) for help with the cleanup, but rather than just assisting, IPF took charge. Throughout the summer, Executive Director Karin Teague, along with a band of hearty IPF volunteers, made multiple trips to the property to haul out countless bags of garbage in preparation for a two-day intensive work party scheduled for mid-August.
Volunteers remove the cabin roof with hand tools
On August 12-13, the Trust, IPF, and the Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers (RFOV) spent two long days emptying a historic cabin of anything not considered historic by the U.S. Forest Service. This included the removal of a heavy wood stove, plywood flooring and glass windows. We also dismantled the metal roof and underlayment — all done with hand tools and carried out on foot to waiting trucks at the trailhead.
We are grateful for this energetic cleanup operation made possible by our terrific partners. If you happen to run into Karin on Independence Pass sometime, be sure to say thanks in appreciation of all her hard work!
A view of the cabin with the roof removed
The Raggeds Wilderness
August 6, 2021 – Summertime is peak field season for the lands staff, particularly in the northern states where access to designated wilderness becomes possible once the mountain snow begins to melt. It’s a time to physically inspect potential new land acquisitions, as well as fulfill our annual site visit requirement for properties the Trust is working to transfer to public ownership.
For the past four weeks, land specialist Kelly Conde has been doing just that, starting with the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in her home state of Idaho. The rugged nature of this wilderness area can present a formidable challenge while researching a property, and she got a taste of this while scrambling up a steep ridge with breathtaking views of the Salmon River below.
The following week’s adventure was all about the deep drainages and mountainous inclines found in the Wild Sky and Henry M. Jackson Wilderness areas of Washington state. According to Kelly, she “mastered the art of the vegetation belay where any bush or small tree can be used to lower oneself down a very steep slope” as she visited three potential new land acquisitions.
Moving on to Colorado, Kelly walked through the high alpine tundra of the Fossil Ridge Wilderness, endless aspen groves of the Holy Cross Wilderness and thick wildflowers of the Raggeds Wilderness. She tells us she may have seen a wolverine scampering across a 12,400-foot scree field in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness (though none have been officially documented in Colorado since 2009).
Over four weeks, 11 properties in nine wilderness areas were inspected, each unique and entirely worthy of permanent protection as federally designated wilderness.
Thank you for your generous contributions that provide the funding for our land staff to complete these site visits, a critical step in the process of protecting a wilderness area near you.
Fossil Ridge Wilderness (Photo credit: Kelly Conde)
Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness (Photo credit: Kelly Conde)
Holy Cross Wilderness (photo credit: Kelly Conde)
Beautiful Silver Lake is a popular hiking destination in Washington
February 12, 2021 – Exploring the Wild Sky Wilderness in Washington state is like stepping back in time before early settlers began to dramatically alter the landscape. Thickly forested slopes and valleys lie in the shadow of high jagged peaks, protecting nearly all of the flora and fauna that existed hundreds of years ago. Old-growth trees and endangered wildlife species thrive as a result of its remote location, mind-boggling amount of annual precipitation and permanent protection via wilderness designation.
Unfortunately, the landscape is also riddled with mining claims from a time when resource extraction helped to fuel the growth of nearby Seattle and its surrounding area. Development of these claims threaten the very characteristics for which the designation was established.
In response, The Wilderness Land Trust has worked diligently for more than two decades to acquire these claims. Thanks to your generous support, we have purchased nearly 1,500 acres in designated wilderness areas throughout Washington, including the Wild Sky, Henry M. Jackson, Buckhorn, Glacier Peak, Mount Baker and Juniper Dunes Wilderness areas.
Adding to this total is another 31-acre parcel we recently purchased in the heart of the Wild Sky Wilderness, thereby removing the threat of mining or private development on this property forever. Additional protection is on the way this year, and I look forward to sharing more good news as several new projects develop.
Learn how you can help us protect this special northwest landscape and others throughout the western United States.
