FGS is a transdisciplinary educational non-profit advocacy organization. It works to restore the balance between human activities and the natural life support systems of the Earth. 

FGS publications, special reports, events and outreach inform and educate the public about vital regional and global issues and how they interdepend. 

FGS monitors and addresses social and environmental issues in the Upper Tennessee Valley and the Southern Appalachian Mountains. It fosters and supports conservation initiatives, including 

— action committees that address egregious assaults, on our natural heritage for example, which require temporary assistance only

— campaigns by other nonprofits, such as

• Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
• Endangered Species Coalition
• Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere
• Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center
• Tennessee Environmental Council
• Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning
• East Tennessee Quality Growth
• Technical Society of Knoxville
• Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation

— groups that want to address systemic problems in a systematic fashion. Among the latter, three evolved to establish themselves as independent 501(c)(3) organization:

• Tennessee Clean Water Network
• Oak Ridge Environmetal Peace Alliance
• Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project, which since merged with, and assumed management responsibilities for, the Wild South network.