George Wright Society :: Parks, Protected Areas Cultural Sites

top of page

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.

INNOVATING ACROSS BOUNDARIES FOR
Parks • Cultural Sites
Protected / Conserved Areas

University of Montana, Missoula • October 20–23, 2025

Plan to join us as we launch a new series of annual workshops exploring the latest in place-based conservation!

Registration now open — register early and save!

Program ready to view — still accepting proposals for Posters

GWS ParkForum 2025 1-min Intro

GWS ParkForum 2025 1-min Intro

Play Video

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

tsa_social_media_graphic_150dpi_edited.p

INSPIRED BY GEORGE MELÉNDEZ WRIGHT

The 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

Watch our virtual chat
with author Jerry Emory!

Parkwire, GWS’s daily global digest

of park news • Follow on FB

Latest top headlines • 6 June 2025

Democrats are asking USBLM to close a mine in Mojave NPres that has been operating illegally for some years as a legal dispute plays out. https://buff.ly/NVm8GAK

A new study involving South African PAs finds that proactively dehorning rhinos is by far the most effective way to deter poachers. https://buff.ly/uxROOwI

USNPS is adding 7 sites to the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network. https://buff.ly/G2Ksdo0

Interviews with recently departed USNPS employees in Alaska paint a devastating picture of the agency's personnel losses, and likely losses to services and protections, in the state's NPs. https://buff.ly/K5oYsha

In a time of MPA retrenchment, Samoa is moving in the opposite direction: the government announced new MPAs that will allow it to meet the 30x30 goal. https://buff.ly/cqobUrK

The Peruvian government is being severely criticized for its decision to cut back the PA surrounding the famous Nazca Lines archaeological sites. https://buff.ly/F5S0Z5z

The nominee for the Department of Agriculture undersecretary post in charge of the Forest Service has had numerous run-ins with the agency, some of them serious. https://buff.ly/zbSlsad

Peru has cut in half the PA surrounding the WH-listed Nazca Lines, one of South America's most important archaeological sites. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/peru-halves-protected-area-near-nazca-lines-1234744125/

The latest version of Trump's 2026 budget request would slash the USNPS workforce by 30%. One conservation group called it an "extinction budget." https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2025/06/trump-budget-request-would-cut-national-park-service-workforce-more-5500

bottom of page