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Conservation
Society had about 300 members, 50 percent of whom were associate members. Thanks to widening coverage granted it during its opposition to Chariot and Rampart development projects, the group expanded to more than 600 members by 1965. While early on the group focused on things like the negative effects hunting wolves had on ecosystems or the importance of large carnivore conservation, they eventually scrutinized government projects. The group's influence grew after Project Chariot and the Rampart Dam were successfully canceled, a fact illustrated by the selection of Alaska Conservation Society president Ernst W. Muller as commissioner of the Alaska State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1975.
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greater than that of the current Lake Erie. The Alaska
Conservation Society opposed the project. After a long fight, including surveys done by scientists to examine the environmental impact of flooding the Yukon Flats, the project was halted. Ginny Wood cites the Rampart Dam fight as a significant one for the ACS. They brought in outside economists and other people to specifically counter claims made by the government about the benefits the dam would have for the state, including the idea of cheap electricity.
231:, and cannot be opened up to oil exploration without congressional action. This designation occurred after a number of smaller tracts of land in the same area, with the same name, were protected; the ACS was first involved in 1959, then in 1960 helped protect 8.9 million acres of the refuge. People who contributed significantly to this effort included
259:, on its website. It also has influenced the state by being an early proponent of wildlife refuges and other large wildernesses that are not considered parks, which continue to this day. Debates over pipelines also continue, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline and others; the ACS was an early example of counter-pipeline debates and voices.
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towards government, especially the federal government. Since the experiments were done secretly and the documents involved are difficult to understand, local people have accepted that they may never know exactly what happened. This has been difficult for many
Indigenous people of the area to come to terms with.
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to bring together like-minded people in order to better organize opposition to two major projects in Alaska: Project
Chariot and the Rampart Dam. The group hoped that its status as an organization "by Alaskans and for Alaskans" would allow its arguments to gain traction in places where speakers from
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The
Rampart Dam was a project suggested to build a large hydroelectric dam on the Yukon River, stopping its flow and creating a large floodplain. Such a dam would have caused significant loss to both Indigenous villages as well as to animal habitat, as the Yukon Flats, when flooded, take up a space
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groups who live nearby, but the government conducted some tests in secrecy, although, according to Gerald
Johnson, none of the people involved in the project had ever visited the site. Although these documents were declassified in 2014, the full extent of the damage to the local area is not known.
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Despite the ostensible win for ACS and the local Iñupiaq groups, people living in Point Hope continue to suffer elevated levels of certain cancers, indicating radiation, chemical contaminants, and other pollutants. This historical episode contributes to high levels of mistrust among the locals
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The
Conservation Society was organized into two groups: Alaskan members, who had voting authority, and "associate," or non-Alaskan members, who did not. It was very important to the Woods that Alaskans maintain control over the organization. By 1961, one year after its founding, the Alaska
148:, one of the group's founding members, became its first president. Early on, the society operated out of living rooms and utilized a small printing press to distribute their bulletin. Many of the early members were scientists, although this was not true for either the Woods or Hunter.
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Ginny Wood, the founder of ACS, and Celia Hunter, its first president, are considered the matriarchs of
Alaskan conservation. In 1993, the Society disbanded. It was replaced by the Alaska Conservation Foundation, which credits Wood and
95:, Alaska, using nuclear explosions. The group subscribed to environmental preservation and the principles of conservation. After the defeat of Project Chariot, the group decided to fight the proposed
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during and after its construction. This led to the society becoming a major factor in environmental policy within the state. The group operated between 1960 and 1993 and was superseded by the
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had not. According to Ginny Wood, one of their main reasons for establishing their own organization was that they didn't want "outside people" controlling the newly minted state.
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Although the ACS contributed to the establishment of the refuge in its early days, debate over ANWR, oil drilling, and conservation continues to this day.
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The
Firecracker Boys : H-Bombs, Inupiat Eskimos, and the Roots of the Environmental Movement
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The Alaska
Conservation Society, in conjunction with local groups, opposed the project.
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In 1960, the Alaska Conservation Society was founded by Alaskan environmentalist
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State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
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103:. After succeeding, the society took a stance on the development of the
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First grassroots conservation organization in U.S. state of Alaska
416:"As Project Chariot Clean-Up Ends, Legacy Lingers for Point Hope"
367:. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press. pp. Ch. 17.
505:"The Long, Long Battle for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge"
189:. There was significant local resistance to the project by the
480:"Area History - Yukon Flats - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service"
282:"Ginny Wood dies at 95; pioneering Alaska environmentalist"
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Hughes, Zachariah; Media, Alaska Public (2014-08-09).
185:, Alaska, to make an artificial bay. It was a part of
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584:"Nominees for the American Heritage Society Awards"
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219:Designation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
127:and her then husband, Morton "Woody" Wood, at the
210:The proposed site of the Rampart Dam floodplain.
590:. February 1970. Volume 21, Issue 2. p. 3.
601:. August 16, 2001. Accessed February 18, 2009.
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626:Environmental organizations based in Alaska
543:"Founders | Alaska Conservation Foundation"
527:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
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173:During the conflict with Russia called the
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595:"Two pioneering conservationists honored"
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579:. University of Washington Press, 2006.
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314:, ESF.edu. Accessed February 18, 2009.
567:The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Controversy
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225:Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
129:University of Alaska Fairbanks
113:Alaska Conservation Foundation
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636:1960 establishments in Alaska
612:. Accessed February 18, 2009.
503:July 13; Palmer, 2016 Brian.
239:, as well as George Collins.
105:Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
83:group in the U.S. state of
74:Alaska Conservation Society
20:Alaska Conservation Society
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588:American Heritage Magazine
577:Alaska: An American Colony
169:Plans for Project Chariot.
81:environmental conservation
445:. New York: Basic Books.
365:Boots, Bikes, and Bombers
142:Continental United States
363:Brewster, Karen (2012).
109:environmental mitigation
255:, who helped found the
593:The Associated Press.
439:O'Neill, Dan. (2015).
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582:Layne, Elizabeth N.
156:Main Accomplishments
119:Founding and History
420:Alaska Public Media
326:Haycox, pp. 267-268
187:Operation Plowshare
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53:Headquarters
48:Conservation
484:www.fws.gov
257:Sierra Club
101:Yukon River
97:Rampart Dam
40:Morton Wood
620:Categories
560:References
548:2020-11-23
514:2020-11-30
489:2020-11-29
425:2020-11-23
294:2013-03-14
183:Point Hope
125:Ginny Wood
93:Point Hope
78:grassroots
37:Ginny Wood
461:913696151
25:Formation
523:cite web
175:Cold War
191:Iñupiaq
181:, near
133:College
57:College
45:Purpose
33:Founder
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246:Legacy
137:Alaska
85:Alaska
61:Alaska
263:Notes
233:Olaus
529:link
509:NRDC
457:OCLC
447:ISBN
235:and
223:The
140:the
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