Over four decades ago, recognizing an extraordinary opportunity to protect the remaining intact ecosystems for the nation, a remarkable group of influential leaders formed Americans for Alaska. Working with President Carter, the Alaska Coalition, and Congressional champions, Americans for Alaska was instrumental in the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) by elevating the importance of these lands throughout our country. Nothing like this had ever been done before.
Incorporating 50 million acres already protected, and adding an additional 100 million of new lands to be safeguarded as National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forest Monuments, Wild and Scenic Rivers, Wilderness Areas, and more, ANILCA also significantly advanced environmental justice by opening these lands to traditional subsistence hunting and fishing activities for Alaska Natives to nourish and sustain their cultures.
The challenges now and the response
Our country’s national heritage in Alaska is at the center of the current Administration’s bullseye. Virtually every special place within Alaska national public lands has been targeted for extraction and privatization—from the old-growth forests in the Tongass National Forest to the entire, sacred, and irreplaceable Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Shortly after the election, and anticipating this onslaught, a group of original ANILCA champions (including Larry Rockefeller, Cathy Douglas Stone, Winsome McIntosh, Phil Wise and Kathy Fletcher (Carter Administration), Chuck Clusen, Doug Scott, Deborah Williams, and Theodore Roosevelt IV), together with many additional, seasoned, state-based and nationally based advocates for Alaska (such as Fran Ulmer, John Leshy, Margaret Williams, Michael Barber, and Bill Meadows) assembled to re-establish Americans for Alaska.
