The Wilderness Society (TWS) is a not-for-profit, environmental advocacy group whose mission is protecting, promoting and restoring wilderness and its natural processes. TWS is a politically unaligned group, however, it actively engages the community to lobby politicians and parties.;;;;TWS was formed initially as a protest group called The Tasmanian Wilderness Society to oppose the apparently unchecked power of the Hydro Electric Commission (HEC). The motivation for the formation of the TWS was the planning and construction of the Franklin Dam on the Gordon River in Southwest Tasmania by the HEC.;;;;The group was established in 1976 from the members of the Southwest Action Committee. This Committee, along with the United Tasmania Group, had protested against the flooding of Lake Pedder for hydro-electric power in 1972. TWS established interstate branches within a short time and the group was nation-wide by 1980.;;;;Not withstanding the success in 1983 of the campaign to stop construction of the Franklin Dam, the need emerged for a national approach due to other interstate issues. As a result TWS dropped the word 'Tasmania' from its name and became known as The Wilderness Society.;;