Our Mission

What does SOTW DO?

Stewards of the Wild (SOTW), Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation's (TPWF) conservation leadership program, equips emerging leaders aged 21 to 45 with opportunities to actively participate in the stewardship of Texas’ wild things and wild places by providing education, networking, and outdoor experiences. 

With member-led chapters in eight major cities across the state, SOTW chapters engage 21 to 45-year-old outdoor enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds by providing opportunities to participate in outdoor experiences such as camping, hiking, lake and river clean-ups, fishing, and hunting; increase knowledge about public land access; interact with conservation professionals; and actively participate in the conservation of our wild things and wild places. 

We want to create the next generation of well-informed conservation leaders in Texas. More specifically, the goal of SOTW breaks down into three pillars:

1. Provide hands-on, conservation-related experiences.

Active, hands-on opportunities typically leave individuals with a greater interest and level of understanding, which allows them to care.

2. Provide conservation education opportunities and resources so individuals can deepen their knowledge and serve as a leader, whether they:

• Serve on the board of a conservation organization
• Make a career change into the conservation field
• Begin doing conservation-related volunteer work
• Become more conscious of their own day-to-day decisions including how to ethically hunt, fish, and use our natural resources like water and land
• Personally lobby their senators and representatives to support positive, conservation-focused legislative change
• Start their own conservation-related initiatives.

This education is particularly critical if members are landowners, belong to a family of landowners, and/or have landowner friends and contacts to ensure the long-term protection and conservation-focused management of our lands, waters and wildlife. Education opportunity and resource topics should include:

• Public and private lands
• Wildlife (native and exotic/invasive)
• Plants (native and exotic/invasive)
• Freshwater and saltwater waterways and bodies of water
• Hunting
• Fishing
• Current conservation issues
• Past and current conservation initiatives across Texas (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), TPWF, and other organizations)
• Existing conservation organizations
• Existing TPWF & TPWD partners
• How the Texas legislative process works and impacts TPWD and conservation
• TPWD leadership, processes, and history
• TPWF leadership, processes, and history

3. Networking and spreading the word about the importance of getting involved in Texas conservation work.

The greater the number of individuals who are informed and support positive conservation initiatives across the state, the more likely our Wild Things and Wild Places will be protected in the long-term.

SOTW members who are first-time or novice hunters or fishermen also have the opportunity to participate in mentored hunts and fishing trips throughout the year. It’s an unforgettable experience, supporting wildlife conservation, celebrating our hunting heritage, and learning how to process and cook wild game.