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The '''George Wright Society''' (GWS) is a nonprofit association that promotes [[Conservation movement|conservation]] of parks, protected and conserved areas, and cultural/historic sites worldwide. GWS also promotes other forms of place-based stewardship. Founded in 1980, GWS is named after [[George Melendez Wright|George Meléndez Wright]], the first scientist to work for the U.S. National Park Service and the initiator of the first systematic surveys of wildlife in U.S. national park units.
{{Underlinked|date=June 2016}}


GWS members includes researchers, managers, administrators, educators, practitioners, and others who are interested in conservation.
The '''George Wright Society''' (GWS) is a nonprofit association of researchers, managers, administrators, educators, and other professionals who work in, or on behalf of, parks, protected areas, and cultural/historic sites. The GWS focuses on the scientific and heritage values of these areas by promoting professional research and resource stewardship across all the natural and cultural resource disciplines that are required for modern-day park management. The society is named after [[George Melendez Wright]].


GWS promotes professional research and resource [[stewardship]] across all the natural and cultural resource disciplines that are required for modern-day park management. GWS’s unique role is to foster interdisciplinary place-based conservation. Specialist organizations and subject-matter professional societies create essential knowledge. GWS operates one level up from that endeavor by bringing specialists together from across disciplines to look for interdisciplinary solutions to conservation problems.
==History==

The GWS was founded in 1980 by Robert M. Linn and Theodore Sudia, both of whom served in the position of chief scientist of the U.S. [[National Park Service]]. The society was created in response to a need voiced during the first and second national conferences on science in the U.S. national parks (1976 and 1979, respectively): namely, for an independent nonprofit professional association to exchange and synthesize information useful to natural and cultural resource management.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Linn|first=Robert M.|title=The Membership|journal=The George Wright Forum|year=1981|volume=1|issue=1|pages=11–12}}</ref>
== The Society ==
GWS was founded in 1980 by Robert M. Linn and Theodore Sudia, both former chief scientists of the U.S. [[National Park Service]].

GWS was formed in response to a need raised during the first and second national conferences on science in the U.S. national parks (1976 and 1979): for a professional association to exchange information useful to natural and [[cultural resource management]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Linn|first=Robert M.|year=1981|title=The Membership|journal=The George Wright Forum|volume=1|issue=1|pages=11–12}}</ref> Building on those meetings, GWS organized its first national conference in 1982. From then through 2017, GWS held regular conferences on two- to three-year intervals. These events eventually drew over 1,000 people from the US, Canada, and occasionally other countries. It is the only regularly scheduled large-scale interdisciplinary parks conference. The conference is currently (2021) on hiatus.


==Membership==
==Membership==
Membership in the GWS is open to anyone who shares its objectives. Most members come from the U.S. and Canada, with other individuals scattered across countries outside of North America. As of 2011, the GWS has 980 members. Although named in honor of a scientist, from the beginning the GWS has been interdisciplinary: members come from a wide variety of fields, such as archaeology, biology, history, social science, air and water quality, environmental ethics, etc. The interdisciplinary nature of the GWS distinguishes it from professional societies focused on particular subjects.
Membership in the GWS is open to anyone. Most members come from the U.S. and Canada. Members come from fields such as [[archaeology]], biology, history, [[social science]], air and water quality, [[environmental ethics]], and many others.


==Scope and activities==
==Scope and Activities==
GWS is concerned with the following areas:
The GWS is concerned with parks, protected areas, and cultural sites anywhere in the world. These three overlapping terms cover a broad array of places, both “cultural” and “natural,” managed by different entities under a variety of designations:


* parks at all levels: national/federal, state/provincial, county, and city
* parks at all levels: national/federal, state/provincial, county, and city
* historic, archaeological, and other cultural sites; cultural landscapes; protected landscapes/seascapes
* historic, [[Archaeology|archaeological]], and other cultural sites; [[Cultural landscape|cultural landscapes]]; protected landscapes/seascapes
* research areas and designated wilderness within national and state forests; other protected natural areas
* research areas and designated [[wilderness]] within national and [[state forest]]s; other protected natural areas
* national and state/provincial wildlife refuges, and other similar protected public lands
* national and state/provincial [[wildlife refuges]], and other similar protected public lands
* natural and cultural areas and sites administered by tribal nations and/or indigenous people; community-conserved areas; sacred natural sites
* natural and cultural areas and sites administered by tribal nations and/or [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous people]]; community-conserved areas; sacred natural sites
* marine protected areas; estuarine, freshwater, and other aquatic sanctuaries
* marine protected areas; [[Estuary|estuarine]], freshwater, and other aquatic sanctuaries
* private land-trust reserves
* private land-trust reserves
*Indigenous protected and conserved areas (IPCAs)
*Other effective means of place-based conservation (OECMs in the parlance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature)


== Activities ==
The GWS also encompasses disciplines and activities that link with or otherwise support the work of parks, such as GIS and museum work.
Every two years, GWS has organized the George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites. The typical attendance is over 1,000 people. Recent conferences have included sessions on inventory and monitoring,<ref>{{cite news |work=U.S. National Park Service|title=2011 George Wright Society Meeting|publisher=U.S. National Park Service}}<!--|url=George Wright Society|accessdate=29 September 2011--></ref> [[remote sensing]],<ref>{{cite web|last=National Aeronautic and Space Administration|title=Landsat at the Biennial George Wright Society Conference|url=http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/news/news-archive/news_0080.html|accessdate=29 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018163944/http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/news/news-archive/news_0080.html|archive-date=18 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> wilderness,<ref>{{cite web|last=U.S. Forest Service, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute |title=Conference and Workshops |url=http://leopold.wilderness.net/confwork.htm#PAST13 |publisher=U.S. Forest Service |accessdate=29 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330165737/http://leopold.wilderness.net/confwork.htm |archivedate=30 March 2012 }}</ref> [[climate change]],<ref>{{cite web|last=University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources |title=George Wright Society Conference |url=http://www.snr.arizona.edu/node/1326 |publisher=University of Arizona |accessdate=29 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331134236/http://www.snr.arizona.edu/node/1326 |archivedate=31 March 2012 }}</ref> and [[cultural heritage]] interpretation.<ref>{{cite web|last=National Center for Preservation Technology and Training |title=George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites |url=http://ncptt.nps.gov/2007/morgan-attended-the-george-wright-society-biennial-conference-on-parks-protected-areas-and-cultural-sites/ |publisher=National Center for Preservation Technology and Training |accessdate=29 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018143546/http://ncptt.nps.gov/2007/morgan-attended-the-george-wright-society-biennial-conference-on-parks-protected-areas-and-cultural-sites/ |archivedate=18 October 2011 }}</ref>


The two main activities of the GWS are both related to the sharing of interdisciplinary information. It organizes the U.S.’s largest professional conference in the field, the [http://www.georgewright.org/gwsconfs George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites], held every two years; typically, over 1,000 people attend. Recent conferences have included sessions on inventory and monitoring,<ref>{{cite news |work=U.S. National Park Service|title=2011 George Wright Society Meeting|publisher=U.S. National Park Service}}<!--|url=George Wright Society|accessdate=29 September 2011--></ref> remote sensing,<ref>{{cite web|last=National Aeronautic and Space Administration|title=Landsat at the Biennial George Wright Society Conference|url=http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/news/news-archive/news_0080.html|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> wilderness,<ref>{{cite web|last=U.S. Forest Service, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute|title=Conference and Workshops|url=http://leopold.wilderness.net/confwork.htm#PAST13|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> climate change,<ref>{{cite web|last=University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources|title=George Wright Society Conference|url=http://www.snr.arizona.edu/node/1326|publisher=University of Arizona|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> and cultural heritage interpretation.<ref>{{cite web|last=National Center for Preservation Technology and Training|title=George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites|url=http://ncptt.nps.gov/2007/morgan-attended-the-george-wright-society-biennial-conference-on-parks-protected-areas-and-cultural-sites/|publisher=National Center for Preservation Technology and Training|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> It also publishes a thrice-yearly journal, [http://www.georgewright.org/forum The George Wright Forum], which explores a wide range of issues having to do with parks. Recent issues have focused on topics such as environmental history and U.S. national parks,<ref>{{cite web|last=American Society for Environmental History|title=Environmental History and the National Parks|url=http://aseh.net/resources/for-government-agencies/national-park-service-workshop|publisher=American Society for Environmental History|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> civic engagement,<ref>{{cite web|last=U.S. National Park Service|title=Civic Engagement Resources|url=http://www.nps.gov/civic/resources/index.html|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> integrating science and management,<ref>{{cite web|last=Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center|title=Science and Management: The George Wright Forum|url=http://www.greateryellowstonescience.org/topics/sciencemanagement/gwf|publisher=Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> and the 100th anniversary of Parks Canada.<ref>{{cite web|last=Parks Canada|title=Respected International Journal Showcases Parks Canada|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/george-wright.aspx|publisher=Parks Canada|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref>
Between 1981 and 2018, GWS published ''The George Wright Forum'': the society's journal on parks, protected areas, and cultural sites. Issues focused on such topics as [[environmental history]] and U.S. national parks,<ref>{{cite web|last=American Society for Environmental History|title=Environmental History and the National Parks|url=http://aseh.net/resources/for-government-agencies/national-park-service-workshop|publisher=American Society for Environmental History|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> [[civic engagement]],<ref>{{cite web|last=U.S. National Park Service|title=Civic Engagement Resources|url=http://www.nps.gov/civic/resources/index.html|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> integrating science and management,<ref>{{cite web|last=Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center|title=Science and Management: The George Wright Forum|url=http://www.greateryellowstonescience.org/topics/sciencemanagement/gwf|publisher=Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref> and the 100th anniversary of [[Parks Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Parks Canada|title=Respected International Journal Showcases Parks Canada|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/george-wright.aspx|publisher=Parks Canada|accessdate=29 September 2011}}</ref>


In January of 2020, GWS teamed up with the [[UC Berkeley]] Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity to found ''Parks Stewardship Forum''. The ''Parks Stewardship Forum'', "explores innovative thinking and offers enduring perspectives on critical issues across the whole spectrum of place-based heritage management and stewardship. It is the only professional conservation journal with an interdisciplinary focus, publishing insights from all fields related to parks, protected areas, cultural sites, and other forms of place-based conservation."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.georgewrightsociety.org/psf|title=Parks Stewardship Forum|website=georgewrightsociety|language=en|access-date=2020-04-07}}</ref>
⚫
The GWS promotes greater diversity in the parks professions through three programs: the [http://www.georgewright.org/gmwsts George Melendez Wright Student Travel Scholarship] aimed at minority students, and a [http://www.georgewright.org/nptg Native Participant Travel Grant Program], aimed at Native people from North America, both of which are given to enable attendance at the GWS's conference; and [http://www.georgewright.org/parkbreak Park Break], a week-long, in-park seminar where graduate students learn about research and resource management issues in the host park.


⚫
GWS has also sponsored the George Melendez Wright Student Travel Scholarship aimed at minority students, and a Native Participant Travel Grant Program, aimed at native people in the Americas. Both programs send recipients to the GWS conference; and to Park Break, a week-long, in-park seminar where [[graduate students]] learn about research and resource management issues in the host park.
Through the [http://www.georgewright.org/awards GWS Awards Program], the society recognizes achievements in Natural Resources, Cultural Resources, Social Science, and Communications, as well as lifetime accomplishments in any of the park-related professions.


The GWS offers a daily news digest, [http://www.georgewright.org Parkwire], that provides links to research and resource management news from parks, protected areas, and cultural sites around the world.
GWS publishes ''Parkwire'', a daily news digest with links to research and [[resource management]] news from parks, protected areas, and cultural sites worldwide. GWS also convenes an Indigenous Involvement Working Group, led by Indigenous members of the Society's Board of Directors. The IIWG explores conservation/stewardship/relationship issues of interest to Native people.


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.georgewright.org George Wright Society website]
* [http://www.georgewrightsociety.org George Wright Society website]
* [http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/people/nps/wright/ U.S. Public Broadcasting System page on George Melendez Wright]
* [https://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/people/nps/wright/ U.S. Public Broadcasting System page on George Melendez Wright]
*[http://www.georgewright.org/gwsconfs George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites],
*''[https://www.georgewrightsociety.org/georgewrightforum The George Wright Forum]''
*''[https://www.georgewrightsociety.org/psf Parks Stewardship Forum]''

{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Heritage organizations]]
[[Category:Heritage organizations]]
[[Category:Environmental organizations established in 1980]]

Latest revision as of 08:13, 14 October 2021

The George Wright Society (GWS) is a nonprofit association that promotes conservation of parks, protected and conserved areas, and cultural/historic sites worldwide. GWS also promotes other forms of place-based stewardship. Founded in 1980, GWS is named after George Meléndez Wright, the first scientist to work for the U.S. National Park Service and the initiator of the first systematic surveys of wildlife in U.S. national park units.

GWS members includes researchers, managers, administrators, educators, practitioners, and others who are interested in conservation.

GWS promotes professional research and resource stewardship across all the natural and cultural resource disciplines that are required for modern-day park management. GWS’s unique role is to foster interdisciplinary place-based conservation. Specialist organizations and subject-matter professional societies create essential knowledge. GWS operates one level up from that endeavor by bringing specialists together from across disciplines to look for interdisciplinary solutions to conservation problems.

The Society

[edit]

GWS was founded in 1980 by Robert M. Linn and Theodore Sudia, both former chief scientists of the U.S. National Park Service.

GWS was formed in response to a need raised during the first and second national conferences on science in the U.S. national parks (1976 and 1979): for a professional association to exchange information useful to natural and cultural resource management.[1] Building on those meetings, GWS organized its first national conference in 1982. From then through 2017, GWS held regular conferences on two- to three-year intervals. These events eventually drew over 1,000 people from the US, Canada, and occasionally other countries. It is the only regularly scheduled large-scale interdisciplinary parks conference. The conference is currently (2021) on hiatus.

Membership

[edit]

Membership in the GWS is open to anyone. Most members come from the U.S. and Canada. Members come from fields such as archaeology, biology, history, social science, air and water quality, environmental ethics, and many others.

Scope and Activities

[edit]

GWS is concerned with the following areas:

  • parks at all levels: national/federal, state/provincial, county, and city
  • historic, archaeological, and other cultural sites; cultural landscapes; protected landscapes/seascapes
  • research areas and designated wilderness within national and state forests; other protected natural areas
  • national and state/provincial wildlife refuges, and other similar protected public lands
  • natural and cultural areas and sites administered by tribal nations and/or indigenous people; community-conserved areas; sacred natural sites
  • marine protected areas; estuarine, freshwater, and other aquatic sanctuaries
  • private land-trust reserves
  • Indigenous protected and conserved areas (IPCAs)
  • Other effective means of place-based conservation (OECMs in the parlance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature)

Activities

[edit]

Every two years, GWS has organized the George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites. The typical attendance is over 1,000 people. Recent conferences have included sessions on inventory and monitoring,[2] remote sensing,[3] wilderness,[4] climate change,[5] and cultural heritage interpretation.[6]

Between 1981 and 2018, GWS published The George Wright Forum: the society's journal on parks, protected areas, and cultural sites. Issues focused on such topics as environmental history and U.S. national parks,[7] civic engagement,[8] integrating science and management,[9] and the 100th anniversary of Parks Canada.[10]

In January of 2020, GWS teamed up with the UC Berkeley Institute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity to found Parks Stewardship Forum. The Parks Stewardship Forum, "explores innovative thinking and offers enduring perspectives on critical issues across the whole spectrum of place-based heritage management and stewardship. It is the only professional conservation journal with an interdisciplinary focus, publishing insights from all fields related to parks, protected areas, cultural sites, and other forms of place-based conservation."[11]

GWS has also sponsored the George Melendez Wright Student Travel Scholarship aimed at minority students, and a Native Participant Travel Grant Program, aimed at native people in the Americas. Both programs send recipients to the GWS conference; and to Park Break, a week-long, in-park seminar where graduate students learn about research and resource management issues in the host park.

GWS publishes Parkwire, a daily news digest with links to research and resource management news from parks, protected areas, and cultural sites worldwide. GWS also convenes an Indigenous Involvement Working Group, led by Indigenous members of the Society's Board of Directors. The IIWG explores conservation/stewardship/relationship issues of interest to Native people.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Linn, Robert M. (1981). "The Membership". The George Wright Forum. 1 (1): 11–12.
  2. ^ "2011 George Wright Society Meeting". U.S. National Park Service. U.S. National Park Service.
  3. ^ National Aeronautic and Space Administration. "Landsat at the Biennial George Wright Society Conference". Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  4. ^ U.S. Forest Service, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. "Conference and Workshops". U.S. Forest Service. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  5. ^ University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources. "George Wright Society Conference". University of Arizona. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  6. ^ National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. "George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites". National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  7. ^ American Society for Environmental History. "Environmental History and the National Parks". American Society for Environmental History. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  8. ^ U.S. National Park Service. "Civic Engagement Resources". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  9. ^ Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center. "Science and Management: The George Wright Forum". Greater Yellowstone Science Learning Center. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  10. ^ Parks Canada. "Respected International Journal Showcases Parks Canada". Parks Canada. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  11. ^ "Parks Stewardship Forum". georgewrightsociety. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
[edit]
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