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Nov 9 - Dec 31, 2023

Ventana Wilderness Alliance

Mission

The mission of the Ventana Wilderness Alliance is to protect, preserve, and restore the wilderness qualities and biodiversity of the public lands within California's northern Santa Lucia Mountains and Big Sur coast.

The Big Idea

The Ventana Wilderness Alliance (VWA) is a Wilderness advocacy, stewardship, and educational force for good. The VWA is committed to ensuring that Wilderness areas in Monterey County thrive, with robust natural landscapes, pristine watersheds, and healthy wildlife populations. We aspire to keep the Wilderness accessible to perpetuate conservation efforts.

We do this by:

- Advancing policy and legislation to protect the Big Sur backcountry.
- Partnering with the US Forest Service to benefit the ecological health of the Wilderness.
- As stewards, VWA volunteers and grant-funded professional crews maintain and restore popular Wilderness trails.
- These same trails are patrolled by Volunteer Wilderness Rangers that educate visitors about fire safety and responsible recreation.
- As outdoor educators, the VWA provides free, multi-day backpacking excursions for local teens (80% are from underserved communities of color). We empower the students to make their voices heard to advance Wilderness conservation.

Empower the VWA with your support! The organization protects and advocates for our public lands in the Big Sur backcountry with boots on the ground, programs for youth, and voices that defend Wilderness values. The Ventana Wilderness Alliance does amazing work with a small staff and a legion of enthusiastic volunteers. Access trails are maintained, visitors are coached, camps are looked after, and young people are given the opportunity to learn about and experience the wild lands of the Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness Areas. Education, stewardship, and advocacy for the conservation of the Ventana region helps ensure that our wild lands stay wild for future generations to enjoy.

- Nikki Nedeff