— President Theodore Roosevelt

How much would you spend to keep our unspoiled places healthy and intact - How much is wilderness worth to you?

Would you spend 15 cents of every federal budget dollar? How about 10?

In fact, the federal government spends less than one cent of every federal dollar to protect the wild. That covers the costs of protecting and managing our national parks, wildlife refuges, national monuments, wilderness areas and other landscapes that belong to the American people.

So when Congress talks of cutting the already barebones budgets for conservation in the name of deficit reduction, we need to draw the line.

Please help us take back the wild from the budget-cutters, drillers, miners and other exploiters, by making an urgent donation to our year-end fundraising drive.

As a gesture of thanks and as a token of our collective commitment to protecting wilderness, we have created a series of beautiful, limited-edition symbolic “landholders’ certificates.” With each donation, you will have the option of downloading one certificate from one of the following iconic wild places: Denali, Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon or Shenandoah.

When you compare the billions in oil subsidies for profit-bloated companies like BP and Exxon-Mobil - one penny on the dollar to protect America’s natural wild beauty sure seems like the least we could do.

Making matters worse, special interests are exploiting the budget crisis by proposing massive giveaways of our natural heritage for drilling, mining, and development.

From the wildlife-rich Arctic coastal plains to the deserts of the Southwest, from the Cascades to the Florida Everglades, America’s natural wild places define us as a people. Just think… we would never sell off the Declaration of Independence or the Star-Spangled Banner to private interests. Why would we even consider doing the same with our unspoiled American wildlands?

Teddy Roosevelt reminds us that there is nothing new about the current assaults on the wild. It’s our job to take back the wild from the plunderers, and to pass it intact and whole to the next generation. Our children will face the same challenges and like us, they too will overcome. There is always pressure to pillage the wild, and with your help The Wilderness Society will always be there to protect it.

For all of us, please add your voice to this joyous enterprise by making a generous year-end donation.

Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Bill Meadows

President

P.S. We are proud to share that the Los Angeles Times recently called The Wilderness Society “one of the nation's most venerable land preservation groups and … a major force behind the creation and expansion of the federal wilderness system.”

Picture credit © Fotofeeling/Westend61/Corbis

You can help take back the wild. Please donate today.

All donors receive their choice of limited edition symbolic certificates of ownership.

member@tws.org