Alaska Constitution Article VIII Discussion
Vic & Shannyn talk Article VIII May 29th, Thursday @ 7:30 PM
Alaska’s statehood architects knew how important Alaska’s lands are to its people and its future. With foresight, they wrote Alaska Constitution Article VIII, aimed at managing and safeguarding natural resources for the long-term benefit of the people of Alaska. Constitutional Convention delegate Vic Fischer and Shannyn Moore will meet face-to-face to discuss Article VIII’s legacy.
This free and open to the public event will be held in the Anchorage Museum at the Rasmuson Center’s auditorium. Free parking is available in the Museum Garage accessed from Seventh Avenue. The event is sponsored by Trustees for Alaska in honor of our 40th anniversary.
At the Constitutional Convention Bob Bartlett, territorial Alaska’s delegate to Congress, spoke of the importance of Alaska’s natural resources to its future, “…fifty years from now, the people of Alaska may very well judge the product of this Convention not by the decision taken upon issues like local government, apportionment, and the structure and powers of the three branches of government, but rather by the decision taken upon the vital issue of resources policy.” It’s been more than fifty years since this keynote address. Mr. Bartlett’s words still ring true.
Vic Fischer was there for this speech and for every day of the months-long convention during the winter of 1955-56. He was an active participant in the convention, chairing one committee and sitting on two others. As a member of the Committee on Style and Drafting, Vic was engaged in writing out each section of the entire document and making changes as they occurred. And he did that way before laptops were a common phenomenon. He is one of three remaining delegates still living. He is our elder statesman still active in Alaska putting the public trust ahead of private interests when it comes to natural resources. That’s why he stepped forward as one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed by Trustees for Alaska against the exploration and water use activities at the Pebble Project in Bristol Bay.
Shannyn Moore, self-identified as “just a girl from Homer”, is an award-winning broadcaster, political commentator, local newspaper columnist and blogger. A list of her activities is impressive and daunting – contributing daily and weekly to newspapers, radio, television programs, news websites, and social media sites. While Shannyn was born long after statehood, she is 100% Alaskan and is not afraid to face thorny issues.
Trustees for Alaska reaches a milestone in 2014. Forty years ago we were established to defend Alaska’s environment. Our lawyers work tirelessly to make sure Article VIII lives up to its promise. This event is just one way in which we’ll be celebrating Trustees’ history of protecting Alaska’s natural resources on behalf of Native villages, community groups, local and national conservation groups, and individual Alaskans by providing legal services, policy advice, and strategic counsel free of charge.
Pictured left: Vic Fischer, photo courtesy of Carl Johnson Photography
Pictured right: Shannyn Moore
Join Vic and Shannyn, and our Board of Directors and staff at a private reception prior to the public presentation to celebrate Trustees’ 40 years. The reception begins at 6:00 PM and tickets are $40 (representing $1 per year of our history). Libations and hors d’oeuvres will be served in the Anchorage Museum’s Seventh Avenue Foyer.
Come toast the legal precedents, the saving of endangered species, the blocking of environmentally devastating projects, and the continued protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas development. Forty years’ worth of Alaska!
Tickets available by calling 433.2006 or you may purchase using Trustees’ online donation form. Just enter in the comments section that your contribution is for the reception!