WILD ALASKA BLOG

The League Honors President Jimmy Carter With The Mardy Murie Lifetime Achievement Award

By Anja Semanco | November 16, 2023

In early November, the League hosted a spectacular event at the Burke Museum Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle to honor President Jimmy Carter, announce this year’s recipient of our Adam Kolton Storytelling Grant Award, and celebrate our dedicated board who continues to support the League all year long in our tireless fight to protect America’s Arctic.

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Unraveling the Dance of El Niño in the Arctic

By Guest Blog | October 31, 2023

El Niño’s reach extends to the Arctic Ocean, triggering a rise in sea surface temperatures which lead to Arctic ocean warming. This seemingly subtle change enacts profound consequences. As the ice in the Arctic Ocean melts at an accelerated pace, it alters the balance of this sensitive ecosystem, impacting polar bears, seals, and countless other species. This shrinking ice cover also contributes to rising sea levels, impacting coastlines worldwide.

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Alaska Wilderness League Applauds Appointment of Laura Daniel-Davis To Acting Deputy Secretary 

By Anja Semanco | October 31, 2023

Today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced that President Biden will designate Laura Daniel-Davis as Acting Deputy Secretary, replacing outgoing Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau. Daniel-Davis enters this position with more than three decades of public policy, non-profit and government experience focused on public lands conservation and partnerships.

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Honoring President Jimmy Carter & His Conservation Legacy  

By Debbie Miller | October 17, 2023

Alaska Wilderness League celebrates its 30th anniversary, and honors Jimmy Carter, a U.S. leader devoted to protecting the environment and one of Alaska’s greatest conservation heroes.

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Ambler Road: A Disastrous Proposed Industrial Corridor

By Anja Semanco | October 3, 2023

The history of the proposed Ambler Road project has been ongoing for years. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Interior, under the Trump administration, approved federal permits for the road. Thanks to that advocacy, and thousands of other engaged activists from the Ambler region, Alaska, and across the nation, we now are close to exactly what we requested.

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Storytelling on the Kuskokwim with Polly Andrews

By Anja Semanco | September 20, 2023

Amidst planning and preparations for activities in late summer and early fall, Polly Andrews graciously offered a new composition and song as a gift to Alaska Wilderness League. In doing so, Polly shared that the song was made possible in part by the support of the 2022 Adam Kolton Alaska Storytelling Grant Award, enabling her to partner with Yup’ik (Ossie Kairaiuak, Chefornak) and Cup’ik (Michael Ulroan, Chevak) artists. Those partnerships will continue thanks to the grant award, in addition to upcoming workshops with the Kuspuk School District (in the Kuskokwim River village of Lower Kalskag) and North Star Behavioral Health center.

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Protections for America’s Arctic: What You Need to Know

By Anja Semanco | September 12, 2023

Did you catch the good news? Last week, the Biden administration announced a suite of actions to protect diverse landscapes across America’s Arctic, recognizing the importance of Alaska’s public lands and waters for communities, biodiversity and our global climate.  Oil and gas development across the Arctic is a major threat, and these announcements get us…

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Press Release: Biden’s Proposed Actions for America’s Arctic Recognize Alaska’s Conservation, Climate Potential

By Anja Semanco | September 6, 2023

Today, the Biden administration announced a suite of actions to protect diverse landscapes across America’s Arctic, recognizing the importance of Alaska’s public lands and waters for communities, biodiversity and our global climate. These announcements are an essential step toward addressing the threat of oil and gas development across the Arctic — a region that provides some of our nation’s last remaining opportunities to protect ecosystems at a landscape level.

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What the Heck is AIDEA

By Anja Semanco | August 30, 2023

The inside scoop on a floundering, publicly-funded Alaska corporation The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority — known as AIDEA — was created in 1967 and is a public corporation of the State of Alaska with a supposed mission to, “provide financing for Alaska’s business community, to expand the economy of the state, and to…

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100+ Organizations and Businesses Call on President Biden and Secretary Haaland to Realize Opportunities for Conservation and Our Climate in America’s Arctic

By Aileo Weinmann | August 8, 2023

Today, more than 100 organizations and businesses sent a letter to President Biden and Secretary Haaland outlining the opportunities the administration has to take bold action in America’s Arctic.

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