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

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced on March 14 that the department would withdraw from the land exchange between the Interior Department and King Cove Corporation authorized in July 2019. This is great news. It means that Izembek National Wildlife Refuge remains protected and intact–for now.… Read More

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

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

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

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

We filed a petition en banc late last month asking the entire Ninth Circuit Court to review a March decision by a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel that allows an Interior Secretary to overrule Congress by approving a land swap that allows a commercial gravel road in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. So what is an en banc review and why did we petition for one? … Read More

Rachel Briggs made her first two oral arguments as an attorney during the COVID pandemic; Bridget Psarianos argued in court for the first time, then again online, after ten years an attorney. Here, they tell their stories about arguing in court for the first time.… Read More

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.

… Read More