Lang Van Dommelen joined Trustees as legal assistant in June 2020. Here, Lang talks about how growing up in Alaska and spending so much time outside has inspired him to protect Alaska landscapes for generations to come:

“I was always outside, even when doing household chores (chopping wood and hauling water), but it was rock climbing that cemented my relationship with the outdoors. By 17, I lived and breathed climbing. By college, I learned to shape my class and work schedules around getting to a crag or gym to climb…”… Read More

Joanna Cahoon’s move to a fellowship with Trustees allows her to shift her legal focus and continue fighting for everyone’s voice:

What matters to me most is preserving the wild places that nourish us for the next generation, so when I got the opportunity to change gears and join Trustees for Alaska, I did not pass it up.… Read More

Being in the mountains was always something I dreamt about. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan where the tallest mountain peaks at 1,979 feet. So, when I had the chance to go to Alaska and work in Denali National Park, I jumped. North America’s highest mountain would be in my backyard. Everything about Alaska was larger than life!… Read More

The National Environmental Policy Act, affectionately called NEPA in the alphabet soup of environmental law, is the cornerstone law that requires the federal government to look at the environmental, economic, social, and health impacts of any decision that might impact the environment. 
It applies to federal permitting decisions like those related to logging, mining, transportation, oil and gas extraction, and infrastructure like pipelines. It also applies to consequential multi-year land management plans that can set out how federal lands may be subjected to extractive projects. 

Most important, it gives local people and the public generally the chance to participate in the federal decision-making process to convey their concerns, knowledge, approval, and disapproval.… Read More

Fannie Dock talks about growing up in Bristol Bay: I was born the 11th of 16 children, all of us raised in Togiak on the southwestern part of Alaska in the Bristol Bay area.… Read More

Our office manager Ashley Boyd talks about how ranch life taught her that to love and respect the land is to protect it. As a kid of 6 or 7, I went to my uncle’s ranch in West Texas and … Read More

Like a lot of you, I feel a sense of chaos and overwhelm more than usual these days. The feeling can make it hard to remember everything in the last three years that has challenged our ability as human beings to make the world just and livable for everyone. But it’s important to remember everything–all the pieces, and how they fit together in driving toward long-term outcomes.… Read More

We’re proud and thrilled that two of our senior staff attorneys have been with us for 10-years now. Brook Brisson, who focuses on Arctic work, celebrated her 10-year anniversary in July, and Katie Strong, who works on public lands and wildlife issues, will celebrate her 10-year in September. Here, they reflect on their decade with Trustees. … Read More