A non profit organization that supports volunteer wilderness rescuers in Western North Carolina.
Where Your Money Goes…
WNC Wilderness Safety Fund supports search and rescue, wilderness education, and training in the WNC region, Haywood County in particular.
Haywood County Statistics
40+
Wilderness-trained volunteers
30
Average Annual Call Volume
1,700
Average Training hours logged Annually
Training
Regular, high-quality training is essential to fielding teams of rescuers equipped to get the job done safely in the rugged backcountry of WNC.
Equipment
Even well-trained teams can fail without the right equipment on hand. Volunteer wilderness search and rescue teams require safe, reliable ropes, rigging, and personal protective gear that needs to be replaced over time.
Outreach
Safety doesn’t just happen when a rescue is required. Part of our mission is to provide training and speaking engagements to the greater WNC community to educate the public BEFORE an incident happens.
Primary Areas of Service
- Shining Rock Wilderness
- Middle Prong Wilderness
- Graveyard Fields
Portions of: - Pisgah National Forest
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Our Partners
Haywood County Search & Rescue
Our Board
Dean Coward, Secretary / Treasurer
Matt Tagliaferri,
Advisor
Justin Padgett,
Advisor
Kevin Fitzgerald,
Advisor
Our Founder: Bill Zimmerman
About
WNC Wilderness Safety Fund — Supporting wilderness search and rescue operations in Western North Carolina.
Get in Touch
Interested in requesting a speaker for your civic organization, school, or non-profit? We are eager to help in any way we can. Reach out to us here:
WNCWildernessSafety@gmail.com
PO BOX 443
Balsam, NC 28707
wncwildernesssafety.org 