ABOUT US

At Alaska Wilderness League, we work to keep Alaska’s wildest places protected for generations to come. We recognize that threats to the environment have greater effects on marginalized communities, and until the conservation movement is more just, equitable and inclusive of all people, we cannot truly secure a safer, healthier and sustainable environment for future generations.

Alaska Wilderness League holds a position of leadership within Alaska’s critical public lands campaigns, and we appreciate our responsibility to serve our partners and constituents well — especially those who have been systemically disenfranchised. Among these groups are Indigenous peoples who for generations have stewarded and lived in harmony with the lands we aim to protect. Our commitment to justice is inseparable from a commitment to developing more meaningful allyship with a diversity of partners and the communities most impacted by our work. It is a promise to listen, learn and grow. It is a promise to stand for, support and lend our voice to the broader causes of justice and equality.

We understand that conservation has too often been rooted in colonization and exclusion, resulting in the disenfranchisement of people who deserved to be heard in the management of our public lands. We are committed to deepening our understanding of this history to create a brighter and more inclusive future for the conservation movement. Continually expanding our awareness of systems of power and oppression will help us reimagine conservation as a tool for justice and advocate for Alaska’s public lands with a heightened focus on the intersectionality of climate change and human rights.

We recognize that the environmental community has historically failed at recruiting, empowering and maintaining diverse staffs and boards. We are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the environmental community by transforming our hiring and recruitment practices, ensuring that our board and staff are more representative of the people we aspire to serve and encouraging other organizations to join us in this effort.

We recognize that Alaska’s public lands originated as Indigenous lands and today still experience the impacts of colonialism. The stories and mythology depicting wild Alaska as a "last frontier" have reinforced colonial imagery of conquering as preferable to being in good relation with the land — or have erased Indigenous presence altogether. Today, the processes by which public lands are designated and managed often neglect frontline voices and ignore Indigenous science and traditional knowledge, and too often make them unwelcoming to marginalized communities, especially Black, Indigenous and People of Color. As the only full-time national organization focused on Alaska conservation, we are committed to promoting a new narrative that elevates a broad spectrum of voices and values related to protecting public lands, focused on but not limited to: providing for a safer climate future; supporting the human rights of Indigenous peoples; advocating for the right to clean, thriving and healthy land, water and wildlife for all; and, serving as a source of hope and inspiration for the country.

We know that meaningful action to center and uplift those who have been underrepresented in the environmental movement will lead to more powerful collective action and impactful decision-making, while simultaneously building a more equitable and stronger movement. Our commitments to inclusion and equity necessitate targeting our outreach strategies to a broader base of supporters and elevating the histories, values and voices of marginalized communities.

We are committed to confronting our own biases and privileges — both organizational and personal — and actively working to dismantle them. While this can be a long and sometimes uncomfortable journey, we will continue to dedicate the resources and energy needed to bring about true transformation. We believe this journey will improve all aspects of our work and ensure Alaska Wilderness League is an even better home for its employees and Board, as well as an organization that more effectively engages, supports and inspires the true breadth of advocates for Alaska’s wild places and the people and communities who depend on them.