Our Alaska. - The Nature Conservancy

Annual Report 2015
OUR ALASKA
It’s mid-summer on a quiet beach in
Prince William Sound… I’m the first out
of the tent, careful not to wake the others.
I’m thinking about coffee and the chance
to sit and watch the tide shift and the sea
come to life.
But before I can take a sip, my daughter,
Névé, bursts out of the tent and is marching toward me. “C’mon Papa,” she says, her
feet crunching on the beach gravel. “We’re
going fishing.”
Névé saw fins cutting through the shallows
and knew it was the perfect time to fish.
With fishing — as is the case with much in
life — timing is everything.
And so it is with our conservation work in
Alaska. There has never been a better time
to unleash the full potential of The Nature
Conservancy’s practical approach to
conservation. We’ve already come so far:
In nearly 30 years of working here, we’ve
built trust and earned the respect of many
diverse Alaskans. We’ve dramatically
improved understanding of which lands
and waters are important and why. We’ve
protected and restored places where
people have found sustenance of one kind
or another for millennia. And yet, I often
feel like our work is just beginning.
The world is changing and with that
change we find new challenges and new
BY THE NUMBERS
opportunities. Thanks to the generous
support of donors like you, we’re bringing
innovative solutions to conservation, as
you’ll see in this annual report, Our Alaska.
We’re scaling up our efforts, creating
new approaches with our partners and
leveraging our collective investments to
amplify our results across the state. The
magnitude of the challenges now before us
demands this strategy and purpose — and
it demands commitment like yours, for
which we’re grateful.
As for the fishing on that calm summer
morning, Névé was right. The fish were
biting. In a perfect alliance, I cast the line
and she reeled it in. A salmon went into
our cooler and a couple of Dolly Varden
went into a pan. That morning, we were
reminded that for many in Alaska, the
distance between nature and the table is
far shorter than a trip to the supermarket.
At the Conservancy we understand the
fate of nature and the fate of people are
tightly bound. And this is why we strive, in
all that we do, to find new ways for nature
and people to thrive together in Alaska —
our Alaska.
Thank you for helping protect this amazing place that gives so much to all of us.
Our Alaska
12,000 rivers
3 million lakes
365 million acres
43,750 miles of coastline
30,000 brown bears
175,000 moose
736,732 people
95 percent of U.S. wild Pacific salmon commercial catch (2013)
78,500 people employed by the seafood industry
$1 billion generated by salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska (2007)
$3.4 billion spent on hunting and wildlife viewing in Alaska (2011)
Our Work
22 staff, 26 trustees and 2,530 supporters
65 partners helped us accomplish lasting conservation in Alaska
28,570 new stream miles were mapped in the Mat-Su, helping land managers make
salmon-friendly decisions
36 entrepreneurs attended our business boot camp for environmental sustainability
in Southeast Alaska
26 additional stream miles received legal protections after being added to the state’s
Anadromous Waters Catalog
$1.25 million invested by the Conservancy in the Haa Aaní Community Development
Fund, which makes loans available to sustainable Southeast Alaska businesses
RAND HAGENSTEIN, ALASKA STATE DIRECTOR
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Creating solutions for the challenges of our time
NATURE
HOW WE USE THE EARTH’S RESOURCES
ACTION AMONG MANY
KNOWING WHERE THE FISH WILL BE
Building a salmon toolbox for conservation
Christine Woll plays hockey. When she’s on the
ice, she knows her job: Anticipate where the
puck will be and make great plays.
As a fisheries ecologist for The Nature Conservancy, her day job makes a similar demand of her:
Anticipate where the salmon will be, then make
the best conservation decisions.
“Alaska constantly surprises, inspires, supports and sustains us in ways that are
intimately connected to the healthy ecosystems we work to protect. We should
never forget the stewardship responsibility we all share to enable future
generations to enjoy this remarkable place, too.”
FRAN ULMER, CHAIR OF THE U.S. ARCTIC RESEARCH COMMISSION AND A MEMBER OF
THE GLOBAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
CHRISTINE WOLL
FRAN ULMER
“Salmon are important to Yup’ik people. They are one of
our spirit foods. I work with The Nature Conservancy
because I care about my traditional food supply.”
DANIEL CHYTHLOOK, A TRADITIONAL BRISTOL BAY SUBSISTENCE FISHERMAN AND MEMBER OF THE CONSERVANCY’S
BRISTOL BAY SALMON SCIENCE FIELD CREW
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“I know this may sound like an impossible task. I
mean, to look at a huge chunk of Alaska and say,
‘this is where wild salmon are going to spawn,
and we know they’ll use these streams over here
as nurseries when they’re young.’ Yes, that’s
daunting, but vital.”
In Alaska, people rely on salmon for their food,
income and recreation. Yet only 50 percent of
salmon streams have been inventoried. The call
to know which streams support salmon is urgent.
So from her fieldwork in places like the remote
headwaters of Bristol Bay — home to the
largest runs of wild salmon on Earth — and the
Matanuska and Susitna rivers, she gathers data
to build complex computer models to answer
burning questions: Which streams do salmon
use and which are the greatest priorities for
protection?
“My role as a scientist is to take everything we’ve
learned in the field and punch that into a model
built expressly for this purpose. It allows us to
know where the fish will be with a high degree of
certainty.”
Christine’s research unleashes a wealth of knowledge. In fact, it already has protected salmon
streams. Local partners in Bristol Bay — including tribes and commercial fishermen — created
a new land use plan with the Conservancy’s help,
which resulted in a dramatic increase in state
land classified for wildlife habitat or recreation.
“It simply would be unrealistic — and costly — to
do this work relying only on field surveys,” says
Rand Hagenstein, Alaska state director. “Christine’s work combines the best of traditional
research with the best of today’s technology.
She’s building a salmon toolbox to fast-track
conservation.”
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FORECASTING SALMON FUTURES
Predicting how climate change will impact our streams
To see the future, says Conservancy scientist Colin Shanley, you first look to the past. And
so when he wanted to learn what climate change means for the salmon streams of Southeast Alaska, he uncovered four decades of old government records on the water flows of 41
streams across the vast Tongass rainforest.
With those records in hand, he built computer models forecasting how a future world will
differ from the one we know today: Warmer and wetter weather in Southeast Alaska is
predicted to change the flow of streams that salmon return home to spawn in each year.
Colin’s findings were a wakeup call for Alaska. Nature runs on salmon in Alaska and
people listen when salmon are on the line. “The fish that depend on these streams are an
invaluable keystone species as well as absolutely crucial to our economy and the Alaska
way of life,” Colin says.
The Conservancy’s climate research helps set strategic conservation priorities in the
Tongass: The healthiest streams will fare the best, and this makes our work to protect and
restore streams now more important than ever.
GUIDING GROWTH IN THE MAT-SU
Mapping streams protects salmon nurseries
The mighty Matanuska and Susitna rivers are at the heart of a place where open spaces,
farming and salmon are a part of life. These glacial-fed rivers inspire an Alaskan lifestyle
that continues to draw newcomers.
Yet the unprecedented surge in new housing developments, shopping centers and roads
has taken a toll on the Matanuska-Susitna’s beloved salmon runs. Even worse, many of
the Mat-Su’s salmon streams didn’t appear on the maps. In a place like the Mat-Su, this
was a problem. A single road crossing, if not done correctly, could block off many miles of
small capillary streams that serve as nurseries for fish still too young to migrate to the sea.
ALASKA’S GLOBAL IMPACT
THE VALUE OF NATURE
Smart development through science
Protecting the Mat-Su’s best assets
The ancient forests of the Tongass, the clear, productive
streams and rivers of Bristol Bay and the vast wilderness of the Arctic — these iconic Alaskan landscapes
provide many of Earth’s best opportunities for addressing global issues like climate change and the loss of
vital lands and waters for healthy populations of wild
salmon, polar bears and caribou.
The Matanuska-Susitna Basin is one of the fastest
growing areas in the United States. At its current
rate, the borough could house 30 percent of Alaska’s
population by 2050. But the very things that make the
Mat-Su a great place to live — its many lakes, streams,
open spaces and farmland — are now threatened by
this explosive growth.
As part of an international organization, the Alaska
Program not only plays a critical role in global conservation, it also has the ability to apply some of the
Conservancy’s most successful approaches to our work.
In the Mat-Su we’re working to transform the way
residents, land managers and businesses approach
development. Our scientists are using the economics
of nature to encourage residents and local leaders
to incorporate the value of lands and waters in their
future decisions.
In the Arctic we are exploring how to apply the Conservancy’s experience in “smart development,” which
enables companies, governments and communities to
make better decisions about where development could
occur — and where it shouldn’t.
Through our own “Development by Design,” used in
places like Wyoming and Mongolia, we can provide
insight into what development does to natural systems
and the people and species that depend upon them.
Using lessons learned around the world, we hope to
demonstrate how to lessen and offset the impacts of
change by building the science, partnerships and policy
support for better decisions.
$10 million Amount generated each year by sportfishing
activities in each of three popular Mat-Su watersheds. Almost
a dozen other watersheds each generate $1 million per year.
37 percent Portion of Mat-Su property values attributed to
lakes, streams and open space.
70 percent Increase in property values attributed to streamside locations in the Mat-Su.
$35 billion Benefits provided to the global economy each year
by nature in the Mat-Su, including flood risk reduction, water
filtration and carbon sequestration.
Thanks to a partnership led by The Nature Conservancy, that’s changed. By applying the
latest technology, the partnership has brought the region’s maps up to national standards,
a first for Alaska. And those maps reveal nearly 53,000 miles of streams, more than twice
what was thought. We’re pleased to say that from this point forward, all our efforts to live
with wild salmon — and protect the streams they need — have a clear map to follow.
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5
THE TONGASS TRANSITION
Creating solutions for nature, people and economies across the Emerald Edge
Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
forms the northern rim of a spectacular region
we call the Emerald Edge. Stretching south
from the 17 million-acre Tongass, through
Canada’s coastal British Columbia and the Great
Bear Rainforest, to the Olympic Peninsula of
Washington State, Emerald Edge is the largest
intact coastal rainforest remaining in the world.
The people within this 100 million-acre band
of old-growth forest and ocean have long relied
on its lands and waters for their livelihoods. But
large-scale resource development has taken a toll
on the region and its incredible diversity of fish
and wildlife has suffered. Over the years, economic development has been pitted against the
environment in a battle with no winners.
At The Nature Conservancy, we believe it’s time
to replace short-term thinking with long-term
solutions that work for people and nature. We’re
scaling up our efforts and sharing resources
across the entire Emerald Edge to engage
communities in stewardship of their lands and
waters, creating new opportunities for economic
development and using science to find compromise. Our goal is a triple win where everyone
thrives: nature, people and economies.
Our work in the Tongass represents the best of
the Conservancy’s efforts over the last decade
to protect this haven for bears, wolves, salmon,
otters and whales. Our goal is to transform how
the forest is being managed through policy
change and community stewardship, and inspire
a new model of economic development.
NATURE
In 2005, The Nature Conservancy partnered
with Audubon Alaska to assess the health of the
Tongass. We created a comprehensive map of
the forest, analyzed the timber supply and determined the best habitat for fish and wildlife. This
work highlighted the most important salmon
watersheds and identified where restoration
could do the most good.
In 2006, we launched the Tongass Futures
Roundtable to bring stakeholders together to
find practical solutions for industry, the Forest
Service, communities and conservation.
Our science and the Roundtable led to the
Tongass Transition, a commitment by the U.S.
Forest Service in 2010 to shift management
of the Tongass from old-growth timber to the
harvest of young-growth trees, restoration of
forests and streams, and the creation of jobs
in renewable energy, mariculture, fishing and
tourism.
In 2014 the Forest Service created the Tongass
Advisory Committee. Comprised of industry,
community and conservation stakeholders –
including a Conservancy staff member – it was
charged with recommending changes to the
Tongass Land Management Plan. The committee’s recommendations are fully incorporated
in the recently released draft of the plan, paving
the way for an orderly transition from oldgrowth logging to a second-growth economy.
PEOPLE
ECONOMIES
We are a founding member of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, which
works with Southeast communities to develop social, economic and
ecological prosperity through community-based projects and new business
development.
We are committed to supporting a new, sustainable economy in Southeast.
That’s why we’re partnering with Haa Aaní on a Community Development
Fund to invest in new business ideas that align with our conservation goals.
To date, we’ve raised $1.25 million for the fund.
Thanks to a collaboration of local and regional partners, Hoonah’s traditional
Guided by our 2005 assessment, we’ve invested $4 million in stream restoration projects, creating jobs for residents and improving habitat for the
Tongass’s iconic salmon.
lands are now a “Working Forest.” By providing cutting-edge science, the
Conservancy is helping the community conserve the benefits provided
by nature – like clean drinking water – while managing its resources to
produce goods like wild edibles. Hoonah’s working forest will provide local
jobs and result in healthier wildlife populations.
Through the Emerald Edge program, we’re sponsoring learning exchanges
between Indigenous leaders in Southeast Alaska, Washington and Canada
to share best practices around resource stewardship and leadership.
6
In partnership with Haa Aaní we also created Path to Prosperity, a competition that awards three businesses a year with $40,000 to invest in their
growth, and provides training to dozens of other entrepreneurs.
Our staff is working closely with young-growth timber processors to identify
markets for their products and create competitive strategies in this time of
transition.
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THE CONFLUENCE OF SCIENCE AND TRADITION
BIRD’S EYE VIEW
SCALING UP INSPIRATION
Haida knowledge guides the next generation
Coastal aerial images merge art and science
Innovation makes a larger impact for nature
Alaska’s 43,750 miles of coastline are among the most remote
and rugged on the planet. But a scientific partnership managed
by The Nature Conservancy has made them accessible to
everyone – at least digitally.
Because we are largely funded by private donations, The Nature
Conservancy is mindful of how we spend our resources. We
approach everything we do in terms of leverage and making the
largest possible impact. We encourage innovation and opportunities to scale up and reapply successes in Alaska and beyond.
We’ve found that the places where we engage can be proving
grounds for bold new conservation solutions.
Melanie isn’t far from home. In fact, this is home,
though she’s never walked here before. It’s a cathedral rainforest of lush quiet, where she wades an
unnamed creek that slides over stone and tumbles
through tangles of spruce and cedar roots on its
way to the sea.
When her steps bring her to a pool where a fellow
Haida crewmember set a live trap, she wades in
deep to retrieve it. She pulls dozens of baby salmon
from the trap, noting the species, and measuring
the length of each in a waterproof notebook. Back
at the tribal office of the Hydaburg Cooperative
Association, she’ll type this into a computer database that offers the most comprehensive inventory
ever assembled of wild salmon-bearing streams in
the tribe’s traditional area.
The meticulous work of Melanie’s crew is necessary
because Alaska state law gives these waters special
protections if science teams are able to document
how at least one phase of the salmon life cycle
depends on these streams.
The leaders of Melanie’s tribe believe – as the Conservancy does – that places like these deserve the
utmost care because this is where the cycle of life
begins. And so the Conservancy and the tribe are
working together to catalog the fish in the forest’s
streams. After four field seasons and counting,
they have protected 15 miles of salmon streams,
surveyed a total of nearly 70 miles, and inspired
momentum in the community.
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Projects like these are at the leading edge of the
Sustainable Southeast Partnership; a network
of Native, government, business and non-profit
leaders working together to create a model of
community conservation and sustainability in
the largest remaining temperate rainforest on the
planet. It is an example of how joining forces to
address the triple bottom line of the region’s communities – nature, people and economies – results
in transformational change.
Here on the Haida’s traditional lands, the Conservancy and Melanie’s crew work to safeguard the
streams, because safeguarding the streams protects
salmon and the Tongass ecosystem. Protecting
salmon in turn preserves the livelihoods, traditions
and culture of the people who live here.
“It’s kind of like what our elders did,” Melanie says,
recounting the stories of elders who kept close
watch on salmon streams – sometimes putting
logs or rocks just so – ensuring they were ready for
salmon returning to spawn.
In her fieldwork, Melanie’s devotion to her own
Haida tradition and her scientific curiosity has
found a perfect confluence. Just as the elders
inspired her, she’s found inspiration in science, and
a calling. She believes it’s her turn to share stories
and her new scientific understanding of home.
“I had so many mentors growing up. I know how
they impacted my life,” she says. “Now, I want to
mentor the kids. They are our future.”
The Alaska ShoreZone program has captured video and photos
of 85 percent of Alaska’s coast. It’s the fruit of long-term efforts
to accurately catalog and create a trusted visual guide to
Alaska’s shoreline.
How? Scientists equipped with high-resolution still and video
cameras fly the coastline in a helicopter traveling at an altitude
of 300-1,000 feet. The images are paired with descriptive scientific details and then uploaded to shorezone.org for anyone to
see and use.
The data produced by ShoreZone has inspired a wide variety
of uses: A marine biologist who monitors for signs of climate
change in biologically rich beds of eelgrass in Bristol Bay; an
emergency response crew dispatched to protect a sensitive
estuary from an oil spill after a ship runs aground on a stormy
night in the Bering Sea; and a ship captain leading a project
to collect marine debris to protect marine mammals such as
whales and sea lions from entanglements along the outer coast
of the Kenai Peninsula. And because the uses of ShoreZone
imagery are limited only by the imagination, the list of its
remarkable usefulness only continues to grow.
Hoonah Native Community Forest
The ambitious Prince of Wales Island Native Forest Lands
Partnership is a scaled-up version of the Hoonah Native Community Forest. These programs focus on creating local jobs and
restoring forests and streams in tribal traditional use areas.
Path to Prosperity
Our Path to Prosperity contest for sustainable entrepreneurship in Southeast Alaska inspired the Washington Coast Works
business contest. Launched with our partner, Haa Aaní LLC,
Path to Prosperity is helping to shape the economic future of
the Tongass.
Mat-Su stream mapping
Our efforts to accurately map Mat-Su streams using the latest in
high-tech won accolades for its efficient multi-agency partnership, which pooled funding and technical expertise to complete
the job with considerable cost savings. It has inspired similar
projects in the salmon-rich waters of the Yukon-Kuskokwim
Delta and Kenai Peninsula.
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OUR SUPPORTERS
Corporate Council on the Environment
In Alaska, the environment is the economy. Thank
you to the members of Alaska’s Corporate Council
on the Environment, who believe that saving
Alaska’s natural wealth of fish and wildlife is not
only the right thing to do — it is one of the smartest
investments they can make.
Corporate Catalysts - $50,000+
ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.
OUR SUPPORTERS
Legacy Club
Corporate Leaders - $25,000+
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air
BP
Petroleum News
Corporate Partners - $1,000+
ABR Inc.
Alaska Rubber & Supply Inc.
Alaska Wildland Adventures Inc.
Bristol Bay Native Corporation
Calista Corporation
Chugach Alaska Corporation
CIRI
Fairweather LLC
Flint Hills Resources
Icicle Seafoods Inc.
LGL Alaska Research Associates Inc.
Lynden Family of Companies
Pacific Star Energy
Stoel Rives LLP
Trident Seafoods Corporation
Udelhoven Oilfield System Services Inc.
10
The Legacy Club is a group of Nature Conservancy
supporters who have chosen to leave a lasting legacy
to conservation by making a life-income gift to the
Conservancy or by naming the Conservancy as
a beneficiary in their estate plans. The following
individuals joined the Legacy Club in Alaska during
fiscal year 2015. We thank our 204 Legacy Club
members for their dedication to preserving Alaska’s
natural resources for many generations to come.
S. Edson
Kara Hilwig
Denby S. Lloyd
“I like The Nature Conservancy’s non-confrontational approach and I love the fact that the Conservancy works with all groups without appearing
heavy-handed. Like the Conservancy, I feel
strongly about leaving a beautiful world for future
generations.”
Legacy Club member Sanna Green ventured north
to teach in Alaska in 1956. Over the years she’s built
a remote cabin, fished commercially in Bristol Bay
and criss-crossed the state in her red-and-white
Cessna 172.
SANNA GREEN, LEGACY CLUB MEMBER
Dawn Mendias
Ellen M. Murphy-Welk
Terzah Tippin Poe & Bob Poe
Tima Priess
Ann G. Rappoport
Ken Russell & Laurel Devaney
SUSAN RUDDY
Michael C. T. Smith & Linda L. D. Smith
Ms. Frances D. Victor
“Alaskans are passionate about their precious
places. The Nature Conservancy has built many
effective partnerships based on that passion for
place, and those partnerships have made positive
and lasting differences for people and nature.”
SUSAN RUDDY, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
FOR THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN ALASKA AND LEGACY
CLUB MEMBER
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OUR SUPPORTERS
Thank you
The Nature Conservancy knows that people
and nature can both thrive in Alaska. To all the
donors who share our vision of a better future,
we thank you. The following donors made gifts
or pledges of $500 or more to programs or
projects within the state of Alaska during fiscal
year 2015 (July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015).
$1,000,000+
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
$100,000 - $999,999
Anonymous (2)
Estate of Mr. Richard O. Gantz
Estate of Ms. Jeanne B. Moulds
$50,000 - $99,999
Tim & Rhonda Snider
Wallace Research Foundation
$10,000 - $49,999
Anonymous (1)
Eaglemere Foundation
Ben & Ruth Hammett
John Sheldon Bevins Memorial Foundation
Bob & Martha Osborne
Rasmuson Foundation
Turner Foundation
$5,000 - $9,999
Anonymous (2)
Estate of John & Mary Claus
Mr. Bradley A. Feld & Ms. Amy Batchelor
Mr. Adam C. Gibbons & Mrs. Ingrid Gibbons
Mr. John Hagey & Ms. Sonia Mazurek
Mr. Kriss E. Hart
Phil & Susan James
Harry and Pat McDonald
Ms. Susan Miller & Mr. Byron Grote
Estate of Dr. Ruth A. M. Schmidt
Ms. Nancy J. Waterman & Mr. William
C. Leighty
United Way of Anchorage
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Pick.Click.Give.
Thank you to all the Alaskans
who helped protect nature by
participating in Pick.Click.Give.
This year, you can Pick.Click.Give.
to show your love for Alaska and
The Nature Conservancy when you
apply for your PFD!
$1,000 - $4,999
The American Endowment Foundation
Anonymous (1)
Marlow & Barbara Baar
Joan L. Baxter
Austin & Virginia Beutner
Ms. Kathi Caldwell
Ms. Janice Chen
Jeff Clarke and Kris Ryan-Clarke
Crabb-Grasseschi Family Foundation
Mrs. Lucy P. Cutting
Mr. Paul H. Daggett
Ms. Lori Davey & Mr. Trent Davey
Mrs. Sharon Davies
Mr. Craig E. Dorman
Ms. Leah Evans
Mr. Matt Frankforter
Ms. Elizabeth P. Graham
Mr. Richard L. Hirsch
Robert Hutton
Mr. James Jansen
Dr. Konrad C. Kaltenborn & Catherine
Schumacher
Mrs. Karen S. King
Mr. Dave R. Klein
Mark and Leslie Kroloff
Ms. Ayako O. Kurihara
Dr. Jeremy T. Larson
The Leighty Foundation
Mr. Thomas P. Lyngholm
Ms. Barbara MacManus
Mr. Michael A. Malachowski & Ms. Leslie
M. Bialas
McKinley Capital Management
Mr. & Mrs. Dennis McMillian
John & Rika Mouw
Ms. Susan Olsen
Melanie Baca Osborne
Ms. Barbara L. Powell
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Prentki
Bob & Bobbie Ritchie
Brian Rogers & Sherry Modrow
Ms. Thelma Rome
Ms. Grace B. Schaible
Donald & Sherry Shiesl
Mr. Jeffrey M. Spatz & Mrs. Paige Spatz
Mrs. Susan M. Stempel
Ms. Marianne Stillner
Ronald & Mary Kay Teel
Ken & Pat Thompson
Mr. James E. Torgerson & Ms. Morgan
B. Christen
Mrs. Julia H. Triplehorn & Mr. Don M.
Triplehorn
Mr. & Mrs. David Trudgen
Ms. Frances Ulmer
Ms. Vicki Wyan
$500 - $999
Merrideth Akers
Ms. Elizabeth Allman
Myron Angstman
Mr. Murray P. Athans
David & Joey Banks
Cynthia Beckwith & Ryan Dutcher
Carl S. & Ruth Benson
BP Foundation
Randal & Valerie Buckendorf
Shauna Budge
Ms. Catherine F. Cahill
Judy Caminer
Mr. John B. Chenoweth
Denali National Park Wilderness Centers Ltd
Joseph K. & Katherine S. Donohue
Mr. Brad Gessner
Ms. Sanna Green
Mr. Jon K. Goltz
Mr. Randall H. Hagenstein & Ms. Evie Witten
Mr. Donald J. Hansen
Mr. & Mrs. Henry P. Huntington
Mary Janet Johnson
Mr. & Mrs. James Kaufman
Ms. Karen Kelleher
Mr. Dan C. Ketchum
Mrs. Linda L. Kumin
Terry S. Lauck
Mary C. MacFarlane
Mr. Chester Mark
Greg McCarthy & Wendy Chase
Jo Ann Miller
Steven Miller
Thomas P. Miller
Dr. Peter O. Mjos & Ms. Karen E. Ruud
Mrs. Anna-Maria Mueller
Ms. Ellen M. Murphy-Welk
Ms. Kris Norosz
Dr. Janice Onorato
Marjorie & Brian Paust
Joshua Peirce
Terzah Tippin Poe & Bob Poe
Dr. Terrance J. Quinn II
Mr. & Mrs. Ray Robinson
Dr. William J. Rome
Ms. Susan L. Ruddy
Jon R. Sallstrom
Mr. Thomas E. Schulz
Bruce & Diane P. Shellenbaum
Ms. Janis Skliar
Dr. Daniel D. Thomson & Ms. Ruth A.
Thomson
Mr. & Mrs. John G. R. Wolfe
OUR ORGANIZATION
FY 2015 TOTAL EXPENSES $4,177,092
ALASKA BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Conservation
Programs 70%
Our Finances
The Nature Conservancy in Alaska
Fiscal year ending June 30, 2015
Support for TNC Work
Outside Alaska 3%
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
Development 10%
ASSETS
Cash and Investments
$7,486,893
Endowment Funds
$294,512
Conservation Lands
$3,157,363
Other Assets
$870,414
Land and Stewardship 1%
Operations 16%
$11,809,182
LIABILITIES
$3,216,212
NET ASSETS
$8,592,970
Marketing &
Communications 1%
$11,809,182
OUR STAFF
FY 2015 TOTAL REVENUE $4,765,572
“As a volunteer for The Nature
Conservancy, you really
get attached to some very
special places. Alaska is one
of those places for me where
the Conservancy offers the
right combination of science,
solutions, and motivation to
make the right things happen
for people and nature.”
PHIL JAMES OF FORT COLLINS,
COLORADO, A CONSERVANCY
DONOR AND A MEMBER OF
ALASKA’S BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Contributions 53%
PHOTO CREDITS
Grants and
Contracts 27%
Cover: Bob Waldrop; Inside Cover: Oscar Avellaneda-Cruz;
Page 1: Bob Waldrop; Page 2: (Clockwise from top) Alaska
ShoreZone Program, Erika Nortemann; Page 3: (Clockwise from
top) Clark James Mishler, Jesse Coleman, Ami Vitale; Page 4:
(Clockwise from top) Jason Ching; Alaska ShoreZone Program;
Page 5: Bob Waldrop; Page 6-7: Erika Nortemann (3); Page 8:
Erika Nortemann; Page 9: Alaska ShoreZone Program (2); Page
10: Bob Waldrop; Page 11: Bob Waldrop, Brooke Wood, Bob
Waldrop; Page 13: Bob Waldrop, Erika Nortemann; Back Cover:
Kathleen Patricia Turner, State of Alaska
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Nikita L. Pakhare
Investments 2%
Other 18%
Susan L. Ruddy, Board Chair
Melanie Baca Osborne, Vice Chair
Robert Osborne, Vice Chair
James Torgerson, Vice Chair
Adam Gibbons, Treasurer
Kris Norosz, Secretary
Randal Buckendorf
Anthony Christianson, Honorary
Jeff Clarke
Lori Davey
Philip James
Karen King
David Klein, PhD
Mark Kroloff
Joseph Marushack
Harry McDonald
Peter Mjos, MD
Stephen Murphy
Terzah Tippin Poe
H. Charles Price
Brian Rogers
Mary Sattler
John Springsteen
Stephen Trimble
Bob Waldrop
David Wight
T. Henry Wilson
Rand Hagenstein, Alaska Director
Dave Albert, Director of Conservation Science
Cynthia Beckwith, Director of Philanthropy
Jean Carter, Grant Writer
Norman Cohen, Southeast Alaska Program Manager
Jai Crapella, Southeast Alaska Operations Coordinator
James DePasquale, Spatial Ecologist
Emily Doherty, Associate Director of Philanthropy
Nicki Holmen, Financial Analyst
Stephanie Holthaus, Associate Director of Philanthropy
Kelly Ingram, Operations Coordinator
Michael Kampnich, Prince of Wales Field Representative
Hank Lentfer, Gustavus Preserve Steward
Bridget Paule, Director of Operations
Ann Rappoport, Director of Conservation
Conor Reynolds, Conservation Forester
Colin Shanley, Southeast Conservation Planner
Corinne Smith, Mat-Su Basin Program Director
Dustin Solberg, Marketing Specialist
Jessica Speed, Conservation Coordinator
Christine Woll, Spatial Ecologist
Brooke Wood, Major Gifts Manager
13
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