Wild Ones Vision for Our Future Wild Ones strives to become a widely recognized voice for native plants and the sustainable landscaping movement, promoting increased use of native plantings that create living landscapes through grassroots efforts by example, education, marketing, and personalized support.
- We will raise public awareness regarding the benefits that native plants, including trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses, offer in a variety of settings so landscaping with native plants becomes the norm rather than the exception.
- We will persuade the general public that including native plants in home and public landscapes is aesthetically pleasing and healthier for our environment, and that reducing unnecessary turf grass reduces storm water runoff and unnecessary use of water, fuel, and lawn chemicals.
- We will see the use of native plants extend into an increasing number of areas where plants touch the soil – such as pollinator support and public places.
- We will join forces with others to preserve native plants and biodiversity from loss due to development and other forces, including displacement by non-native invasive plants.
- Widely recognized: Means getting our name and what we do in front of the general public over and over until it is as commonly understood as “Audubon Society = Birds.”
- Leading voice: Means that we are the group most people think of first when they need information, advice, or support on the “how to” or benefits of landscaping with native plants.
- Join forces: When it comes to preserving native plants from loss due to habitat destruction and other related causes we will collaborate with other groups who take on such efforts as their primary mission to lend our support. We understand that the survival of native plants in the long term may depend on these efforts. However, Wild Ones’ core focus will be to support native-plant community restoration through education.
Wild Ones Core Values
Respect Our mission stems from our respect for the other species on this planet and future generations. We will treat each other – our staff, members and volunteers – with respect at all times. We respect different tastes in landscaping but also ask that others show respect for the common good by considering how they can conserve resources and improve the environment via the inclusion of native plants in their landscapes.
Personalized Support Our members value the opportunity for direct contact with other Wild Ones members and the ability to “learn locally.” This sets Wild Ones apart from many similar organizations. Networking and education are our most important functions.
Appreciation – Volunteers are the Heart of Wild Ones To keep our dues low and our efforts local, Wild Ones is a grass-roots organization that runs primarily on volunteer effort. We will continue to rely on volunteers to carry our mission forward. We will support our volunteers and recognize their efforts, especially those in volunteer leadership positions.
All Members are Valuable Members At the national level our income is largely derived from member dues and donations. We appreciate all members, respecting that everyone has varying priorities and demands on their time which impact their ability to volunteer.
Fresh and Adaptable While we stay focused on our core abilities and goals we will continually look for and solicit ideas from our Board, our members and honorary directors for new strategies that we might use to further our goal of promoting sustainable landscape practices.
Wild Ones Strategic Plan
The Wild Ones national Board recently completed a Strategic Plan with the three year goal to
- Expand outreach through more partnerships with business and other like-minded environmental organizations
- Initiate more fund raising through grant writing
- Evaluate the programs we offer our members and
- Expand our presence across the United States by increasing not only membership, but also chapters