40 Years of Grassroots Organizing
“Honoring our Past, Creating Our Future”
In the summer of 1979, representatives from Dakota Resource Council, Powder River Basin Resource Council, and Northern Plains Resource Council came together in Bismarck, ND, and formed the Western Organization of Resource Councils, changing grassroots organizing in the West forever.
Since then, the WORC network has grown to nine groups in our region dedicated to building environmentally and economically sustainable communities, including Dakota Rural Action, Idaho Organization of Resource Councils, North Dakota Native Vote, Oregon Rural Action, Western Native Voice, and Western Colorado Alliance.
The WORC network has big plans for the next 40 years. A wave of new, enthusiastic leaders is beginning to shape the organization.
Today, WORC has 22,750 members in 38 chapters in our seven-state region, including membership from most of our states’ Reservations. WORC helps share resources and experience throughout our groups and takes their unified vision of rural vitality to Washington DC. This grassroots power and representation has helped protect rural communities and families for the last 40 years. Our work has brought about big wins to keep family farms operating despite the growth of industrialized agriculture; minimizing the impacts of under-regulated oil and gas development, and stopping the destruction of farm and ranch land through coal mining.
The WORC network has big plans for the next 40 years. A wave of new, enthusiastic leaders is beginning to shape the organization. They’re harnessing the wisdom of members who have worked for decades for a democratic, sustainable, and just society, and looking toward a bold future of building homegrown prosperity through clean, renewable energy, properly implemented coal mine reclamation, and building just and diverse rural economies.
Never miss an opportunity to make the West a healthier and more sustainable place to call home.
Look and feel great while supporting your favorite grassroots organization with WORC gear!