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Alaska Wilderness League

Website
http://www.alaskawild.org
Contact Name
Liz VanDenzen
Contact Email
Liz@antispamalaskawild.org
Past Grants
2011 · $35,000
2010 · $35,000
2009 · $30,000
2008 · $35,000
2007 · $35,000
2007 · $30,000
2006 · $60,000
2005 · $70,000
Grand Total
$330,000

Alaska's wild lands — including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Tongass National Forest — are under attack. This extraordinary treasure trove of lands and waters, set aside decades ago to be protected now and in the future for the benefit of the American people, are in severe danger of being destroyed forever by short-sighted politicians and the extractive industries. They want only the resources these pristine areas can provide, regardless of the resulting devastation to the habitat, wildlife, and cultures.

Alaska Wilderness League is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1993 to further the protection of Alaska's amazing public lands. The League is the only Washington, D.C.-based environmental group devoted full-time to protecting Alaska's public lands including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petoleum Reserve-Alaska, the Tongass National Forest and the Arctic Ocean.  The League's mission is to lead the effort to preserve Alaska's wilderness by engaging citizens, sharing resources, collaborating with other organizations, educating the public, and providing a courageous, contact and victorious voice for Alaska in the nation's capital.

In addition to our DC office, we have outreach offices in Anchorage, Juneau, and Barrow, AK; Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Maine, and New Mexico.  If you are interested in getting involved locally, please go to: http://www.alaskawild.org/about-us/staff/.

Project Update

ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE The Arctic is all around us. Every year, birds that begin their lives on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge journey to all 50 states and across six continents, before heading back to the Arctic, where the cycle of life begins again. The Arctic is the origin of life for more than just birds - numerous species of mammals bear their young on this vast expanse of tundra including polar bears, caribou and more. As we mark the 50th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we must do everything we can to be sure that this last wild haven remains protected for generations to come. On August 15, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This plan will guide how the Refuge is managed over the next fifteen years and beyond. The FWS has requested public input on its draft plan for the Arctic Refuge that, for the first time, could recommend Wilderness designation for the Coastal Plain – the Refuge’s biological epicenter that has been in Big Oil’s sights for decades. Please help demonstrate overwhelming support for protecting the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain – if Americans speak with a loud and united voice, we’ll be sending a strong message that the Fish and Wildlife Service can’t ignore. ACTION: Send a letter to FWS on behalf of your organization supporting Wilderness for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge. If you go this route, it is important to make it unique to your organization’s concerns. If you don’t have time to do that, please sign on to our coalition letter- you can view it here: http://www.alaskacoalition.org/uncategorized/205 To sign on, send the name of your groups, the name of the signer, title, city and state to alaskacoalition [at] alaskawild [dot] org by November 1. Our goal is to get group letters from all 50 states, if you submit your own letter, please let us know. ACTION: Please send an action alert email to your organization’s list asking folks to submit a letter to Interior Secretary Salazar. You can use this alert, http://www.alaskawild.org/ccp-email-alert/?akid=82.74013.L-l3Ky&rd=1&t=1, as a guide. The comment period ends November 15, 2011. This is an amazing opportunity to demonstrate that the majority of Americans support protecting this national treasure. Let’s join together to show that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one place too extraordinary to drill.