Parks Stewardship Forum

The George Wright Society (GWS) has launched a new program, the RISE Declarations Project, to support conservation colleagues who have recently lost their jobs due to actions by the current US administration: people we refer to as Recent Involuntarily Separated Employees (RISEs). The Society recognizes that government service, non-profit civil society, and unfettered academic inquiry are foundational to the well-being of the American nation. While the current administration’s policy and budgetary decisions are designed to undermine these values, the Society continues to support them in our focal area—parks, protected/conserved areas, cultural sites, and other forms of place-based conservation. RISEs are leaving conservation-related government service, academia, non-profit employment, or for-profit contractor positions for reasons unrelated to their job performance. Losing the wisdom, experience, and service of RISEs is doing incalculable damage to American society. The Society would like to contribute to stemming this loss by providing a platform for RISEs who worked in place-based conservation to share their insights and experience as part of a permanent repository that will be made available to the public: the RISE Declarations: a statement that lets RISEs summarize in their own words the most important aspects of their career in place-based conservation, along with lessons learned.  Beginning with this issue of Parks Stewardship Forum, we will publish RISE Declarations for as long as we receive them.