About Us
As a women-led* organization, we bring knowledge, leadership, and humor to the conservation movement to protect our last wild places on earth.
Vision:
Wild public lands are treasured for their intrinsic values and protected for current and future generations.
Values Statement:
Wilderness and public lands are for everyone; they are the heritage of all and a gift to future generations.
We value:
- National public lands and waters.
- The spirit and intent of national conservation legislation such as the Wilderness Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Antiquities Act, which protect wild places that once destroyed, may be gone forever.
- The natural world as a community where humans, as one small piece of an interconnected whole, must take responsibility for care.
- Sound science as a basis for informed decisions.
- Being bold, courageous, and fearless in defense of wild lands.
- Humor, grace, common sense, and passion.
- Openness to all perspectives.
- Dialogue to resolve conflicts.
- Expanding racial, cultural, and gender diversity in the conservation movement.
- Broadness as a state of mind.
(* For Broads, the term “women” includes and represents anyone who self-identifies as a woman.)
Founding Broads Ginger Harmon, Susan Tixier, Edie Pierpont, Frandee Johnson, and Dottie Fox.
Great Old Broads for Wilderness was founded in 1989 on the 25th anniversary of the Wilderness Act by a feisty bunch of lady hikers who wanted to refute then-U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch’s notion that wilderness is inaccessible to elders. About that time, wilderness designation had been proposed for Escalante, and Senator Hatch opposed it, saying, “if for no other reason, we need roads for the aged and infirm.”
Outrage Begets A New Voice
Founder Susan Tixier and her fellow activists were outraged, and with sudden clarity, saw that an important voice was missing from the environmental movement: the older woman—impassioned, experienced, not afraid to speak out, and definitely not needing roads. The group committed themselves to grassroots advocacy to preserve wilderness and wild places for future generations.
What’s in a Name?
Tixier and her colleagues happily settled on their role and purpose, but hadn’t yet decided on what to call themselves. Fate brought an answer to them. One fine day while the gang was out hiking and discussing what action to take next, they came upon a group of elderly ladies coming off a trail—dusty, tan, sinewy, and gray-haired. Someone remarked “What a bunch of great old broads”.
The name stuck. It captured the spirit of the budding entity they envisioned, emphasizing the old and the feminine. More importantly, the moniker had humor, a core value of the group from the beginning.
Concept to Coalescence
The early framework declared Broads to be a nonprofit, social organization dedicated to the protection, use, and enjoyment of the wilderness (designated, proposed, or imagined).
The early days were informal—there were no dues. To become a member you just had to declare yourself one, and then you could buy a T-shirt to proclaim it to the rest of the world. The point was to have fun while doing what you were passionate about.
The Broads sat around kitchen tables and brainstormed. The plan was to spend their time and energies on action protecting wilderness, not creating a formal organization with a paid staff.
A Force to Be Reckoned With
By 1993, with a growing membership and expenses, the board decided to institute annual dues—though payment was still optional. In 1994, it became necessary to hire a staff person to keep the membership database, publish the newsletter, Broadsides, and handle public relations. Broads was on its way to becoming a cohesive organization.
Today, Broads has a small staff and our ranks have grown to more than 8,500 members and supporters. There are nearly 40 Broadbands (chapters) from coast to coast dedicated to local and national wilderness issues. We consider Broadness to be a state of mind. No matter how you identify, or whether you are young or old, if you share our love for wilderness and a passion to protect wild places then you’re a “Broad!”
Great Old Broads for Wilderness is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and broader conservation community.
Our Broad commitment means:
- We are focused on the inclusive value that “broadness is a state of mind”;
- We are open to all perspectives while encouraging dialogue to resolve conflicts;
- We develop deep and authentic partnerships with diverse communities to further a broad set of conservation goals;
- We understand and respect the goals of communities with which we work;
- We identify and find ways to eliminate barriers that prevent full diversified public participation; and
- We seek common ground to work collaboratively for the long-term.
We define diversity broadly to include age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, geographies, socio-economic status, and political affiliation.
By including diverse voices, we seek to engage the cooperation of as many constituencies as possible to strengthen support for ecosystem preservation and balance, conservation of public lands, and the environmental justice issues associated with these issues.
We seek the representative voices of Indigenous peoples whose present-day identity and ancestral history are embedded in the land, along with the full diversity of cultures and ethnicities that make up the country’s population. We pledge to work in collaboration with individuals and organizations to respect and honor diverse cultural perspectives of public lands.
Fostering diversity and inclusiveness is an ongoing process requiring continuous awareness and diligence. Diversity is not a project or task with an end point.
Broads identify, engage, invest in, and listen to partners and community leaders as we work towards a more representative and inclusive conservation movement, and make choices consistent with those investments.
When working in new communities, we work to gain full understanding of issues facing those communities; and we are mindful of those issues, our potential impacts, and the need to follow through on clear commitments.
We will integrate diversity and inclusiveness awareness throughout our programs and organizational structure. We work to create an environment in which all feel valued and respected, where learning and integrity are fostered, and laughter and fun are appreciated.