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Photo/©Amy Gulick

Our collaboration with the Alaska Wilderness League gives us a unique opportunity to invest in an organization whose actions have made a decisive impact on preserving Alaska’s wild lands.

Alaska Wilderness League

The Alaska Wilderness League (AWL) is the only Washington, D.C.- based conservation organization devoted exclusively to protecting Alaska’s federal lands. The group coordinates with a number of national and Alaska-based organizations to protect wild lands across the state. Currently, its work focuses on protecting America’s Arctic from oil and gas development.

For the past ten years, AWL has taken the lead in the fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from being opened to oil and gas development, and its leadership has made a significant impact in this area. The organization has rallied public support and successfully stopped numerous attempts by Congress to open the refuge to development.

In more recent years, its Arctic focus has expanded to include lands to the west of the refuge: namely, Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve and the outer continental shelf off the Arctic shore. The group also works with other conservation organizations to protect old-growth forest lands within the Tongass National Forest.

To ensure that AWL can continue to provide leadership in protecting Alaska’s wild lands, the Campion Foundation invested in a three-year capacity-building effort. These funds have sparked systemic change at all levels of the organization. Our grant dollars have been used to diversify funding, develop board leadership and participation, enhance management and operations, improve communications and increase staff.

This investment of time, money and expertise makes it possible for AWL to operate more efficiently and respond more quickly in its fight to protect Alaska’s fragile wilderness regions.