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ABOUT AWCOur HistoryThe Arizona Wilderness Coalition (AWC) was created in the 1970's in response to the Forest Service RARE-II process under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Review, directed by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. By design, those processes were more about "releasing" lands from wilderness consideration than they were about designating wilderness. However, through the efforts of a band of dedicated volunteers guided by Joni Bosh and Rob Smith of the Sierra Club, the AWC was instrumental in getting 3.5 million acres of new wilderness designated in Arizona through 1984 and 1990 legislation. More important, the AWC managed to stave off hard release language, which today allows for the reconsideration of over five million acres of public lands for permanent wilderness protection. In December 2000, about fifty wilderness activists met in Phoenix for the purpose of rejuvenating the formerly all-volunteer AWC. It was determined that the AWC should be reorganized to coordinate the efforts of the various greassroots groups across the state involved in protecting wildlands, while also providing cohesive leadership statewide. Member groups have missions that go beyond wildland protection. It was decided, therefore, that the AWC would focus exclusively on roadless and wildland protections, including advocating for wilderness and wild and scenic river designations. At a subsequent meeting, a 13-member Board of Directors was elected to reorganize and oversee the AWC and to hire a director. Organizational StructureThe AWC is a true coalition, in name and structure. We have made a conscious decision to involve member organizations as host sites for key AWC staff positions. We are capitalizing on their years of organizing, outreach, and scientific expertise to build our own mission and achieve solid results. The approach minimizes duplication of effort and our overhead costs as we take full advantage of existing infrastructures. These partnerships also strengthen our joint efforts and help our partners to take advantage of our value-added statewide capacity. We have divided Arizona into four geographic regions, with a Regional
Director assigned to each. The Regional Directors' positions are hosted
by the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, the Sky Island Alliance, and two
at Prescott College. Our Media/Communications staff person is centralized
for most effectiveness in the Phoenix metropolitan area. |
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