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How?

Wild Virginia works to accomplish our mission through our Forest Watch program and by organizing people who care about forest protection.

Founded in 1995 by UVA students and local activists as Shenandoah Ecosystems Defense Group (SEDG), the organization has always been rooted in public lands forest protection through volunteer action. In 2003, the SEDG Board of Directors voted to change the name to Wild Virginia. If you've known us as SEDG, fear not, we are the same group of people working on the same issues. We feel the new name helps accurately convey our mission in a more positive and proactive way. We hope you agree.

In the summer of 1997, Wild Virginia worked to protect the Hematite Timber Sale, a large tract of old-growth chestnut oak forest in Allegheny County, the southernmost ranger district of the George Washington National Forest (GWNF). Through forest watch, public education, and organized protests Wild Virginia emerged as a leading advocate for forest protection in Virginia. Despite a lawsuit and mounting public pressure, the old-growth forest at Hematite fell. Although the trees were cut, Wild Virginia succeeded in elevating the issue of old-growth forest protection throughout Virginia [see News].

In the spring of 1998, with renewed effort, Wild Virginia succeeded in protecting 458 acres in the Broad Run Roadless Area through an administrative appeal generated by our forest watch activities.

In the summer of 1998 and 1999, Wild Virginia organized opposition to three timber sales in the Arnold Valley near Lexington, VA. Each was inside an uninventoried roadless area and contained habitat for threatened and endangered species. The Forest Service had proposed to log 225 acres. Wild Virginia volunteers spent many weekends at the Terrapin Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway asking tourists to sign postcards opposing the timber sale. Wild Virginia's public organizing generated over 1,000 postcards, and the Forest Service dropped over 120 acres of clearcuts as a result.

Beginning in 1998, and continuing until passage of the Virginia Wilderness Act of 2000, Wild Virginia organized support for the creation of two new Wilderness areas: The Priest and Three Ridges in Nelson County. Our efforts included leafleting at grocery stores, phone banking, letter writing, field trips, and fundraisers. Wild Virginia joined other groups like the Virginia Wilderness Committee in celebrating the addition of over 10,000 acres of the George Washington National Forest to the federal Wilderness Preservation System.

In 2000, Wild Virginia joined forces with three landowners and a hunting lodge in Bath County to stop the Chestnut Ridge Timber Sale on the GWNF. The proposed logging would directly affect water quality and supply on adjacent private land. All administrative appeals to halt the sale were denied, leading Wild Virginia and the private landowners to file suit against the USFS. Although we had the backing of the local community and landowners, the fourth district federal courts are some of the most conservative in the country, and we lost the case. All parties chose not to appeal. The loss was disappointing, but helped us establish a strong relationship with the private landowners and hunters in an important rural area.

Within the Shenandoah River watershed, Wild Virginia has actively opposed several projects including, road relocation inside a roadless area on Shenandoah mountain (Forest Road 95), and timber sales on Massanutten Mountain in the Lee Ranger District. Wild Virginia has also worked with botanists and naturalists to explore opportunities to protect the threatened cow knob salamander.

In the spring of 2002, Wild Virginia hired its first Conservation Director and began a concerted effort to protect the headwaters of the Shenandoah River. These lands comprise the largest roadless forest complex east of the Mississippi River at over 400,000 acres. Current threats include acid deposition from excessive nitrogen and sulfur in the air and rain, new road construction by the Forest Service, logging projects, illegal off-road vehicle traffic, and other pressures. The value of our National Forests for clean water, recreation and wildlife is far greater than for timber.

These are our favorite places and we want to protect them for future generations.

Please consider becoming a member.

We are lean and efficient, but we need your support to help the forests. [Join us!]