White paper on the status and future of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy

In recent years, ground-based γ-ray observatories have made a number of important astrophysical discoveries which have attracted the attention of the wider scientific community. The Division of Astrophysics of the American Physical Society has requested the preparation of a white paper on the status and future of ground-based γ-ray astronomy to define the science goals of the future observatory, to determine the performance specifications, and to identify the areas of necessary technology development. In this contribution we give a brief overview of the activities of the current white paper team and invite the international community to contribute to the white paper.