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13 Oct, 2021
in Employment, Litigation, People & Places
We know our work goes beyond our issues and lawsuits, and includes supporting and nurturing attorneys who want to pursue work in environmental law now and into the future. Our post-graduate fellowship program allows recent law school graduates or established attorneys to get experience and mentorship in all facets of our work. Here, we share a Q&A with Rachel Briggs, who joined us as a fellow in 2019 and later became a Trustees attorney.
15 Sep, 2021
in Wild Lands & Wildlife
Every year, Alaskans head to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge for boating, hiking, fishing, spotting animals, and much more. An increasing number of people are calling the Kenai Peninsula home, too. A few hundred brown bears call the peninsula home as well—and human expansion and human-caused deaths of those bears pose a huge risk to that population.
15 Sep, 2021
in America's Arctic, Litigation
August brought good news for the Arctic and planet when a federal court voided illegally issued permits for the ConocoPhillips’ Willow oil and gas project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. And September brought more good news when the Interior Department directed the Bureau of Land Management to reevaluate the destructive Trump-era 2020 management plan that would open up protected areas of the Reserve to oil and gas and further driving up carbon emissions.
18 Aug, 2021
in America's Arctic, Bristol Bay, Newsletters, Wild Lands & Wildlife

The raspberries in my yard started to pop this week, sweet and plump, and fiery purple fireweed blooms started to reach their peak. It gets dark now, too, and animals fervently prepare for winter—as do we.  August tells me to gather and process food, button up summer projects, finish chores, prepare for winter, and soak up the last warmth of sunny (though cooler) days every chance I get. Predictably, and also suddenly, summer’s end foretells itself via wilted flowers and late season blossoms, growth surges and decay.

18 Aug, 2021
in America's Arctic, Wild Lands & Wildlife
Earlier this month the Biden administration released a regulation that allows oil and gas operators in Alaska to harass polar bears and walruses in the Beaufort Sea when exploring for oil and gas, extracting or transporting fossil fuels, and when building infrastructure. This regulation imperils already threatened polar bears on the Beaufort Sea.
13 Jul, 2021
in America's Arctic, People & Places
I first met Bob when I came to Alaska as the new executive director of Trustees in 1982. Bob was on contract to Trustees then, and he called me up and asked me to have lunch with him. We met at the Lucky Wishbone. All Bob knew about me was that I was a DC lawyer with an Ivy League education, so he must have decided that he had to act like a DC consultant – which is precisely what he did. I sat there thinking to myself, “why is this ex-hippy acting so straight?”
16 Jun, 2021
in America's Arctic, Newsletters, Wild Lands & Wildlife
A few weeks ago, I took some time off to pick up some flowers from the nursery and put up a small greenhouse. I spent days planting and tending and getting my hands dirty. I’m loving the red, purple, white and blue hues of the blooms, and the greening up of tomato and cucumber starts. I worked up a sweat in the yard last weekend, and basked in the much-needed warmth and sunshine. Mental health has been on my mind these days.
15 Jun, 2021
in America's Arctic, Litigation
While the Biden administration promises climate action and clean energy, and Alaska’s political leaders spout the “drill baby drill” mantra of fossil fuel dinosaurs, Alaskans and people around the world face enduring threats to their health, ways of life, and homes at the hands of industrialization and climate chaos. Now there's more good bad news for Alaska's Arctic.
15 Jun, 2021
in Wild Lands & Wildlife
This the second in a series about how a Supreme Court decision has muddied the waters for agencies managing the use of rivers and streams on federal lands like national parks. In part two: Alaska Governor Dunleavy announced the “Unlock Alaska” initiative in late March with a vague and incredibly broad assertion of state sovereignty over navigable waters throughout Alaska. The initiative is as perplexing as it is misguided.
19 May, 2021
in America's Arctic, Climate Change, Newsletters, People & Places, Wild Lands & Wildlife
In our work, we sometimes talk about going on the defensive. For us, that means doing everything we can to hold the line in court when those with power make decisions and take actions that put the health of Alaska’s lands and communities, water and air at risk. Defensive work requires focusing on stopping harmful things and sometimes forgetting to shine the light on what we can build together. So today, I want to shine that light again on who we are and what we stand for.
19 May, 2021
in Litigation, Wild Lands & Wildlife
You might have heard Governor Dunleavy recently announce the “Unlock Alaska” initiative. Through it, he basically dares federal agencies to regulate any waterway running through federal lands, and encourages Alaska citizens to flout federal regulations. This is political posturing, for sure, a flawed interpretation of the State’s authority, and a bizarre attempt at a power grab certain to lead to extensive litigation.
19 May, 2021
in People & Places
Our dear friend Shocky Greenberg died of cancer on May 5, 2021. Shocky put her love of conservation and her law degree to practice on the Trustees’ board for many years. Below, another former Trustees board member Bob Childers shares his memories of Shocky and her life as a thinker, an advocate, and a kind and lasting friend.
22 Apr, 2021
in Climate Change, Social justice
On day one of his presidency, President Biden signed an executive order committing to climate action. The order includes a 30 x 30 plan that sounds simple enough: Protect 30 percent of the nation’s lands and oceans by 2030 to confront the climate emergency and protect the health of people and animals. What does that look like on the ground and will it be enough?
16 Mar, 2021
in America's Arctic, Bristol Bay, Clean Air and Water, Climate Change, Donations, Newsletters, People & Places, Social justice, Wild Lands & Wildlife
It’s hard to believe it has been a year since we first hunkered down due to the pandemic. The concept of time has been unreal—it dragged, it sped up, it stood still. And in the midst of it all, we faced an existential crisis to our democracy, an ongoing racial reckoning, and so much loss—the loss of so many lives to COVID and racist violence and injustice. The loss of connection to family, friends, coworkers, social gatherings, and even purpose and meaning. A year can change everything and nothing at all. The months from last March to this March certainly proves it.
16 Mar, 2021
in America's Arctic, Bristol Bay, Litigation, Wild Lands & Wildlife
Things look far rosier now than a year ago when it comes to public lands management, clean air and water, protecting wildlife and tackling the climate crisis. The Biden administration came out of the gate with clear actions that make climate and environmental health a key component of every decision-making process across all departments. But prior federal actions and lawsuits mean the work has in many ways just begun.