US Capital Building

Wilderness in Congress

Wilderness Watch is keeping an eye on the actions of the current, 118th session of the U.S. Congress. With the leadership of our Legislative Director/Policy Analyst, we are tracking Wilderness bills and working to derail those that would harm Wilderness, or weaken the Wilderness Act. We’re also working with Congress to improve oversight of, and support for, the federal agencies’ Wilderness programs.

Wilderness Watch has a spreadsheet tracking wilderness bills in the current Congress. The spreadsheet is a running tally of bills, pointing out the bad bills and their flaws, along with the good bills.

To find and contact your members of Congress, please visit this USA.Gov website.

You can call your members of Congress via the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

You can also write your senators or representative at:

Senator (Name)
US Senate
Washington D.C. 20510

Representative (Name)
US House of Representatives
Washington D.C. 20515

Click here for some other ways you can defend the Wilderness Act and America’s National Wilderness Preservation System.

Some Tips for Contacting Congress:

  1. Personal letters, either hand-written or typed, make a greater impact than email. “CC’ing” your letter (or email) to the chair of the appropriate committee(s) is a good idea too, as committee chairs play an important role on most legislation.
  2. Phone calls are an effective way to let your elected official know that you are for or against a particular bill. But you shouldn’t ask an intern or receptionist who answers phones to relay a detailed or complex concern to your Congressperson—they may not convey them accurately.
  3. Email is not always the most effective means of communicating with Congress, but it’s easy to do, and unlike a phone call, your words are delivered by you, rather than interpreted by someone else. Remember to always include your address and phone number. This makes you a “real” person, rather than a contact spot on the internet, and it lets your Congressperson know that you are a constituent.

Photo: Martin Lopatka via Flickr