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The California Wilderness Coalition was founded in 1976 by five dedicated conservationists in Davis. Our first campaign organized rural residents of Colusa, Glenn, and Lake Counties in support of the protection of Snow Mountain in California’s north coast region. Since then, CWC has helped to permanently preserve more than 13 million acres of wilderness, including such California gems as Mount Shasta, the Trinity Alps, Yosemite wilderness, and the Mojave National Preserve. We have also successfully defended the pristine Dinkey Lakes area, untouched Ishi forest lands, Duncan Canyon, and other special places from destructive logging, mining, and road-building.

Our organization has grown and changed in many ways over the past three decades. We still believe that local activism is often the most effective defense of our wild lands. In recent years, we have restructured our organization to bring us closer to critical communities across the state. With field offices in Redding and Upland, our organizers are reaching out to diverse populations, raising the profile of conservation issues and broadening our coalition. At our central office in Oakland, we coordinate our on-the-ground efforts throughout California with the valuable work of our conservation partners across the state and nation.

CWC has over 3,700 members - individuals, member organizations and business sponsors including the California Native Plant Society, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, Desert Survivors, the South Yuba River Citizens League, and the Los Angeles Chapter of the Audubon Society.

We publish a quarterly news journal, the Wilderness Record, an annual California Wilderness Guide, an email newsletter, Untrammeled, and periodic action alerts on key conservation issues.

For more information on the history of CWC and the California conservation movement, read the Spring 2006 30th Anniversary Issue of the Wilderness Record.