Our curriculum tries to tell a more inclusive story about public lands and the relationship of people to those lands.

In reflecting on our own history in the public lands movement and the stories we’ve traditionally told as an organization and conservation movement, we knew this curriculum needed to be versatile and usable in all the diverse settings we learn about public lands.

While we developed the curriculum for learners high school age and above, we made sure it can be adapted for younger students, too. For example, our partners at Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions in Albuquerque are using it to teach a diverse population of 8th graders about public lands while navigating the complex history of how these places came to be protected. Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions are even starting to use the curriculum as a professional development tool for their staff.

An important feature of the curriculum is that it can be used in the field. The Appalachian Mountain Club in Boston partnered with us to develop a two-week course for teens to explore the curriculum while backpacking, canoeing and learning to be leaders and advocates. Additionally, they’ve made parts of the curriculum an integral piece of their Outdoor Leadership Trainings to help better prepare their adult educators to lead young people from a place of equity and truth.

The curriculum is part of The Wilderness Society’s broader effort to be more inclusive and equitable in our advocacy for the protection of public lands. Just as our growth around equity and justice as an organization is an ongoing journey, the curriculum too is ever evolving.

We regard our public lands curriculum as a living document, one that will be revised and updated regularly based on user feedback. It is available for use free of charge and we invite you to provide your feedback using the email address on the registration page.

Once we understand public lands and their history, we can pay that knowledge forward into creating a conservation culture and policies that are equitable and inclusive of everyone. With shared understanding, shared lands have the power to connect us as individuals and as communities, now and for generations to come.