The Wilderness Society announces Melyssa Watson as executive director
From Durango, Melyssa will lead policy for wild lands, climate solutions and equitable access to the outdoors.
The Wilderness Society announces the promotion of Melyssa Watson, formerly vice president of conservation, to a new role as executive director of the organization. In this role, Melyssa will lead The Wilderness Society’s programmatic work from regional and national campaigns focused on public lands and energy policy, to making public lands part of the climate solution and ensuring more equitable access for all to the outdoors. Jamie Williams continues his role as president, leading the organization and its overall vision for public land conservation.
“For the past 20 years, Melyssa’s outstanding leadership at The Wilderness Society has been the foundation on which our conservation successes rest,” said Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society. “She has been focused and unwavering given the unprecedented political threats facing our nation’s public lands and has a successful track record of finding locally-driven, bipartisan solutions and lasting protection for America’s wild places. We are thrilled to chart a future vision for our organization with Melyssa in this role.”
Melyssa served most recently for the last six years as vice president of conservation for the organization. She oversaw 11 regional offices as well as our science, policy, national campaign and government relations teams with a total of 75 staff working within both rural and urban communities closest to the nation’s diverse public lands system.
During Melyssa’s tenure, The Wilderness Society has permanently protected more than ten million acres of public land via wilderness and other conservation designations, national monument proclamations, and other means. Key achievements over the past five years include launching the People Outdoors program, securing strong climate and energy policies for public lands, and facilitating collaborative, landscape-scale conservation plans for sage grouse across the West—all in the face of recent administrative and congressional challenges to the concept of protecting parks and public lands in perpetuity.
Melyssa came to The Wilderness Society in 1999 and co-founded the Wilderness Support Center, working to build and lead grassroots wilderness campaigns across the country. She has served in a variety of leadership roles, including Director of the Wilderness Support Center, Senior Director for Wilderness and Assistant Vice President for Southwestern Regional Conservation.
She works from the organization’s Durango, Colorado office, and enjoys exploring the Southwest’s wildlands and rivers with her family.
CONTACTS
- Kate Mackay, Senior Director - Communications Strategy, The Wilderness Society, 602-571-2603, kate_mackay@tws.org
The Wilderness Society, founded in 1935, is the leading conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. With more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 109 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands. www.wilderness.org
