The community of Tok hosts a thick, growing forest of spruce trees, and a thinning, shrinking population of people and businesses. Like elsewhere in rural Alaska, high-energy costs and a lack of jobs are causing people to leave. But the trees may be the solution to bringing people back.
Anne Hillman is a behavioral health clinician working in rural Alaska. Before going back to school for her Masters of Social Work, she covered social justice issues for Alaska Public Media and ran the multimedia and arts project Mental Health Mosaics with Out North.