For The Wild Collective

TO PRESERVE AND STRENGTHEN THE INTEGRITY OF EARTH'S NATURAL COMMUNITIES.

IN THE FIELD IN THE FIELD: FURTHERING THE CONNECTIONS FORGED WITH A COALITION OF WOMEN FROM THE HAIDA AND TLINGIT NATIONS, THE WOMEN'S EARTH AND CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK (WECAN) INTERNATIONAL, AND EARTHJUSTICE IN 2016, THE FOR THE WILD TEAM RETURNED TO SOUTHEAST ALASKA IN SUMMER OF 2018 TO BUILD STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE LIVING AND WORKING WITHIN THE WATERS AND FORESTS OF THE TONGASS. THE TEAM RECORDED A DIVERSE ARRAY OF INTERVIEWS WHILE IMMERSED IN THE WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE RESIDING IN THE GRASSROOTS COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS OF THE REGION. WEAVING TOGETHER STORIES FROM THE GRASSROOTS, OUR IN THE FIELD: PLACE-BASED STORYTELLING WAS DEVELOPED THROUGHOUT 2019 AND THE FIRST EPISODE WAS RELEASED ON DECEMBER 6, 2019. IN THE FIELD: WANDA KASHUDOHA CULP ON ROOTED LIFEWAYS OF THE TONGASS FOCUSES ON THE TONGASS, THE LARGEST REMAINING INTACT TEMPERATE RAINFOREST ON EARTH AND THE TRADITIONAL TERRITORY OF THE TLINGIT, HAIDA, AND TSIMSHIAN PEOPLES.THIS EPISODE FEATURES WANDA KASHUDOHA CULP, AN INDIGENOUS TLINGIT ACTIVIST, AND ADVOCATE, BORN AND RAISED IN JUNEAU AND HOONAH, ALASKA. WANDA'S TESTIMONY UNEARTHS THE UGLY TRUTH OF COLONIAL EXTRACTION IN ALASKA AND THE POWERFUL RESISTANCE SEEDED IN ITS WAKE AS WE LEARN ABOUT THE 1971 ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT, THE TLINGIT BALANCE OF RAVEN AND EAGLE, INDIGENOUS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, AND EXTRACTIVE TOURISM. IN THE FIELD: KASYYAHGEI ON THE LAW OF THE LAND CONTINUES TO WEAVE THE THREADS OF THE STORY AND SPIRIT IN THE TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST. KASYYAHGEI IS A RESPECTED TLINGIT KNOWLEDGE KEEPER, A MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER, A SPRUCE ROOT BASKET WEAVER, AND A FIERCE PROTECTOR OF HER COMMUNITY AND VILLAGE OF HOONAH. IN THE 1980S, KASYYAHGEI BROUGHT A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE FOR LOGGING IN HOONAH AND SHE CONTINUES TO BE A FIERCE ADVOCATE AND ACTIVIST TO THIS DAY. KASYYAHGEI'S STRIKING ACCOUNT OF HOONAH AND THE IMPERIAL HISTORY OF ALASKA GIVE RISE TO UNDERSTANDING THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC BATTLES ENCIRCLING THE TONGASS. IN THE FIELD: NUSKMATA (JACINDA MACK) ON THE GOLD RUSH THAT NEVER ENDED TRACES THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF THE MINING INDUSTRY ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA, UNEARTHING STORIES FROM A REGION THAT BEARS AN ESTIMATED 1,100 ABANDONED MINES, 150-YEAR-OLD MINING LAWS, AND MORE MINING EXPLORATION COMPANIES THAN ANYWHERE ELSE ON EARTH. NUSKMATA (JACINDA MACK) IS FROM THE SECWEPEMC AND NUXALK INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MODERN DAY BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA. SHE HAS A MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN COMMUNICATIONS AND HAS WORKED WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER, RESEARCHER AND ADVOCATE ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ISSUES, INCLUDING CRITICAL RESPONSE TO THE 2014 MOUNT POLLEY MINE DISASTER. THIS EPISODE BRAIDS TOGETHER THE HISTORY OF THE GOLD RUSH AND COLONIZATION IN B.C., THE STATE OF SALMON, THE PRACTICE OF FREE, PRIOR, AND INFORMED CONSENT, DIRTY MINING FOR A "CLEAN" ENERGY REVOLUTION, AND THE NECESSITY OF REFORM.

THE BERING RIVER CONSERVATION INITIATIVE THE BERING RIVER WATERSHED REGION IS ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE AND PRODUCTIVE ECOLOGICAL AREAS ALONG THE GULF OF ALASKA COASTLINE. ESSENTIALLY AN ISLAND BETWEEN ICE, RIVERS, RAINFOREST AND SEA, THIS REGION CONSTITUTES CRITICAL HABITAT FOR MILLIONS OF BIRDS, TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE MAMMALS, AND WILD SALMON. IT IS ONE OF THE LAST REMAINING PRISTINE ECOSYSTEMS OF ITS KIND. THIS LAND IS UNDER THREAT OF MOUNTAIN-TOP REMOVAL MINING.THE COAL-FIELD IS ADJACENT TO AN AREA OF THE CHUGACH NATIONAL FOREST WHOSE PURPOSE WAS DESIGNATED BY CONGRESS IN THE ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVATION ACT (ANILCA) TO BE "THE CONSERVATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AND THEIR HABITAT." THE COAL-FIELD IS ALSO IN PROXIMITY TO THE STATE AND FEDERALLY DESIGNATED "COPPER RIVER DELTA CRITICAL HABITAT AREA." WITH SIGNIFICANT INDIGENOUS SUBSISTENCE AND CULTURAL VALUES, THE COPPER RIVER DELTA COMPLEX IS ONE OF THE LARGEST WETLANDS IN THE WORLD AND HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS A WESTERN HEMISPHERE SHOREBIRD RESERVE NETWORK SITE OF HEMISPHERIC IMPORTANCE-THE HIGHEST DESIGNATION AWARDED TO SHOREBIRD HABITAT. THE COPPER RIVER DELTA IS AN IMPORTANT SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESOURCE AND THE LARGEST OF THE THREE KEY COASTAL WETLANDS OF THE ALASKA REGION. THE BERING RIVER COAL FIELD IS A BITUMINOUS COAL FIELD, LOCATED NEAR BERING GLACIER, BETWEEN ICY BAY AND THE MOUTH OF THE COPPER RIVER. ALSO NEARBY IS CARBON MOUNTAIN WHICH CONTAINS ONE OF THE ONLY ANTHRACITE DEPOSITS IN ALASKA. WITH AN ESTIMATED 35 TO 65 MILLION TONS OF RECOVERABLE COAL, THE BERING RIVER COAL FIELD HAS FUELED A CENTURY LONG BATTLE BETWEEN CONSERVATIONISTS AND DEVELOPERS BEGINNING WITH THE CREATION OF THE CHUGACH NATIONAL FOREST AT THE START OF THE 20TH CENTURY BY PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN PART TO PREVENT COAL DEVELOPMENT. GIFFORD PINCHOT, THE FIRST CHIEF OF THE US FOREST SERVICE, WAS FIRED IN 1910 FOR CONTINUED ATTEMPTS TO STOP COAL DEVELOPMENT IN THIS AREA. DURING THE ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT (ANSCA) OF 1971, THE COAL FIELDS (~73,000 ACRES) WERE CHOSEN BY THE CHUGACH ALASKA CORPORATION (CAC) AS PART OF THEIR SETTLEMENT. RIGHTS TO THE MOST WESTERLY 11,000-ACRES OF THE BERING RIVER COAL TITLE WERE THEN TRANSFERRED TO THE KOREAN ALASKA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (KADCO) IN 1991. THE EYAK PRESERVATION COUNCIL AND THE NATIVE CONSERVATION LAND TRUST HAVE BEEN WORKING TO PERMANENTLY RETIRE MINERAL RIGHTS IN THE BERING RIVER COAL FIELDS. IN DECEMBER 2016, THEY WORKED IN COLLABORATION WITH NEW FORESTS AND THE NATURE CONSERVANCY TO PURCHASE AND RETIRE THE MINERAL RIGHTS OWNED BY CHUGACH ALASKA CORPORATION (CAC). THIS DEAL ADDITIONALLY PROTECTED THE FORESTS IN THE SAME AREA THROUGH A CARBON OFFSET DEAL. THERE IS STILL DEMAND FOR COAL EXTRACTION, THREATENING THE WILD SALMON ECOSYSTEM, THE LOCAL ECONOMY, AND THE FOOD SECURITY OF THE REGION BUT THE MAIN SHAREHOLDER OF KADCO WANTS TO RETIRE MINING RIGHTS ON THE LAND AND IS CURRENTLY WILLING TO NEGOTIATE A FEE TITLE SALE PRICE TO DO SO. THE ADDITIONAL 11,000 ACRE COAL TITLE IS STILL HELD BY KADCO, AND EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY BY THE EYAK PRESERVATION COUNCIL AND FOR THE WILD TO PURCHASE AND RETIRE THIS TITLE.

FOR THE WILD PRESERVES AND STRENGTHENS THE INTEGRITY OF EARTHS NATURAL COMMUNITIES THROUGH LAND CONSERVATION, ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION, MEDIA & EDUCATION.