The Alaska Conservation Foundation is launching a new program aimed at helping Alaska Natives protect their lands.
A new fund, designed by an Alaska Native Steering Committee, will provide a vehicle for Alaska Native tribes and Alaska Native non-profits to protect the land, waters and wildlife integral to their way of life. Polly Carr is a program officer with Alaska Center for the Environment.
The Alaska Native Steering Committee has developed the grant guidelines and will make funding recommendations each year, Carr says.
Steering Committee members include Vera Metcalf, the Executive Director of the Eskimo Whaling Commission in Nome, and Orville Huntington, Tanana Chiefs Conference Wildlife and Parks Director.
The Fund will support the incorporation of indigenous knowledge to promote food security and sustainable economies, connect the importance of environmental health, and address the impacts of climate change.
Alaska Native individuals and nonprofit organizations may apply for funding. $100,000 will be granted in the inaugural round.
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APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
