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The light always returns: Alaska News Brief June 2023

Earlier this month, I joined my mom on her last—for now—“bucket list” adventure. We took the train to the Canadian Rocky Mountains for two days from Vancouver to Banff, going from an urban landscape and rainforest into high desert into boreal forest. Then we rented a car to spend some time in Lake Louise and Calgary. Stunning! And, because life works this way, I caught a virus at the end of this short-but-sweet trip.… Read More

How a week of news tastes like a soggy cabbage sandwich: Alaska News Brief March 2023

I took some time off to see my family in early March. Within a day of returning, it felt like I hadn’t left at all.

Instead, I felt like someone delivered a soggy old cabbage sandwich made up of somewhat good news stuffed with clearly bad news. I’m as hungry for good news as anyone, but this dish tastes bitter.… Read More

A bittersweet farewell: Alaska News Brief December 2022

December feels bittersweet this year.

Sweet because I love snowy mountains and am excited to begin a new chapter of conservation work, community engagement, and exploration of new places here in Vermont.

And, also, Alaska holds a special place in my heart, like it does with so many others. Leaving so much that I love about my work and life in Alaska is no easy feat.

These transitions, however rewarding and full of hope, can be challenging. And yet it was a transition that brought me to Alaska to work for Trustees years ago.… Read More

We argued in Ninth Circuit Court to protect Izembek & all national parks and refuges in Alaska

On a sunny December afternoon in Pasadena, California, we argued before a full panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to protect national parks and refuges in Alaska, and to uphold the integrity of a law intended to conserve these lands and the subsistence uses of them. We’ll talk about the oral argument soon, but we first want to overview what’s at stake.… Read More

Joyfully pressing the pause button: Alaska News Brief November 2022

I don’t know about you, but I need a break.

It’s been a long slog through the election season with its bombardment of calls, texts, emails, and junk mail, and I really feel the loss of sunlight, too. It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to unplug long enough to really relax.

I’m excited, though, because soon I get to scuba dive again in Loreto, Mexico, on the Gulf of California north of La Paz. But before I get to that, I want to reflect on a few great things that have happened here at Trustees since Election Day.… Read More

A Supreme betrayal: Alaska News Brief May 2022

We like to believe that certain groups of people, when given the right knowledge, experience, education, guidelines, etc., can make decisions for all of us without bias or agenda. One such body is the Supreme Court, the “highest” adjudicating body in the United States and the final authority on the law.

Let me tell you, we have a lot to worry about right now.… Read More

For the birds

Birds give us song, beauty, food, a vision of flight. Some birds use tools. Some fly thousands and thousands of miles nonstop one way on annual migrations. Some swim as seamlessly as they fly. Some birds rely on specific foods like eelgrass while others eat almost anything. Some birds live all year in Alaska and others fly over oceans and continents to get here.

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