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The George Wright Society champions stewardship of parks, protected & conserved areas, cultural sites, and other kinds of place-based conservation by connecting people, places, knowledge, and ideas. By uniting people from many different backgrounds around a common passion for protecting Earth’s natural and cultural heritage, we create the collaboration needed to meet today’s greatest conservation challenges.

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INNOVATING ACROSS BOUNDARIES FOR

Parks • Cultural Sites

Protected / Conserved Areas

INSPIRED BY GEORGE MELÉNDEZ WRIGHT

Watch our virtual chat with author Jerry Emory!

The long-awaited, first-ever biography of our namesake — the visionary who revolutionized management of America‘s national parks

“Emory’s enumeration of Wright’s accomplishments—including a survey of wildlife in Western parks, the first of its kind—is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Highly recommended for nature lovers and park enthusiasts.” LIBRARY JOURNAL

30% discount for GWS members!

Check out the latest issue  of our open-access journal, Parks Stewardship Forum

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GWS teams up with the National Park Service to restart training workshop series

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A Yosemite ranger's living history portrayal of George Meléndez Wright

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Parkwire,

GWS’s daily global digest

of park news

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Latest top headlines  •  15 March 2024

Mar 15—A large new no-take zone in the South Atlantic has been created by the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. https://buff.ly/3TEUGV2

Mar 15—The company behind the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska is suing to try to overturn USEPA"s rejection of the project. https://buff.ly/3VfKOCf

Mar 14—The Biden administration has released a new plan to protect the sage grouse — a flashpoint in fights over public land use in the West. https://buff.ly/49JiOLD

Mar 12—USBLM's new management plan for Bears Ears NMon breaks new ground in the amount of emphasis it gives to Indigenous Traditional Knowledge. https://buff.ly/3TyHYqz

What sets us apart: Interdisciplinary conservation thinking

GWS’s unique role is to foster interdisciplinary place-based conservation. Specialist organizations and subject-matter professional societies create essential knowledge. GWS operates one level up from that endeavor: we provide opportunities for specialists to go beyond their usual mental boundaries and see how what they know connects with, and complements, what other specialists know. GWS nurtures the kind of context-aware thinking needed to tackle complex conservation problems.

What we create: Innovation

Innovation only comes from open minds. Open minds thrive in a collegial atmosphere that encourages people to think outside their silo, beyond their usual point of view. GWS is the only conservation organization that exists specifically to bring people together from a wide range of points of view in settings designed to allow open-mindedness to flourish. By doing this, GWS creates space for multidimensional learning and collaboration that leads to innovative conservation action.

How we work: Convening

The learning spaces we create are both physical and virtual. We convene opportunities for people to come together in person: face-to-face events that expand communication networks, support mentoring, and build the capacity of park and protected area stewards, cultural and natural resource managers, scientists and other scholars, and teachers and students. We also help create these goods by nurturing a virtual global community of stewardship through publications and online interactions.

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