Honoring Kitty LaBounty
Kitty LaBounty was the quintessential Sitka woman: she was a scientist, artist, dancer, educator, good neighbor, an even better friend, and a community member whose life revolved around being part-of and giving to her community. She was a keystone species in our town’s ecosystem of accomplished and brilliant people. We say goodbye to her now and we miss her… but we will miss her even more over time for all the ways she brought us together, the connections she made, the things she catalyzed, the advice she gave, the things she grew, what she taught us, how she observed and shared what she saw, the conflicts she helped us navigate, the things she stood up for, how she encouraged everyone to be more curious and to always document their finds, and that ubiquitous Kitty LaBounty laugh.
Kitty’s laugh was so very representative of who she was: a giggle that you might disregard as nervous uncertainty…. But you would be very mistaken if you disregarded it as nervousness or judged her to be uninformed or out-of-her-league. Anyone who underestimated her would soon come to learn that she probably knew more than you did, had done more than you have, had a more diverse and wider range skill set than you did, and was way ahead of you in figuring out the lay-of-the-land and what was coming next. When you spent more time with her, you learned how her laugh could be joyful, or dismissive, or cynical, or encouraging, or help through sadness or tragedy, or just express how great it was to be alive in the place that she loved, where she made her home. Kitty was a full-on Sitkan Alaskan who had been there and done that and wouldn’t ever stop doing and learning and seeing more until her earthy body wouldn’t let her continue.
Kitty LaBounty served on the board of the Sitka Conservation Society as our treasurer and helped lead the organization through a successional moment. She joined SCS during a pivotal shift in how the organization approached advocacy for the Tongass. Kitty wasn’t interested in just pointing out the problems and protesting bad ideas: Kitty wanted to build the solutions and make a new reality. Having spent years on Forest Service field crews, she knew the agency from the ground up and how to connect with those career employees who carried long-held hopes for sustainable resource management and community well-being. She understood the hard work required to create institutional change—and the importance of committing to a long-term vision that looks beyond the present moment. She understood both the big picture and the gritty details—why intact ecosystems must be protected, and how the processes of succession and plant response to disturbance shape the land. She knew how thoughtful management could lead to lasting ecological and social benefits. Kitty also knew how to navigate conflict. She could bring a group of people through zones of discordance while sowing seeds of agreement and pollinating programs with everyone’s input so that at the end, everyone saw themselves in the accomplishments.
In addition to her leadership skills, Kitty’s hard skills in the wild Alaskan environment were profound. Kitty was at ease on the ocean boating in the dark of night on a windy and raucous December to her cliff-top, island home. She could bushwack through the deepest and densest temperate rainforest-- old growth or young growth and in heavy rain or blazing sun-- and come out having found some treasure of a batch of golden chanterelles or some glowing phosphorescent moss or some lichen that told a story with some universal ramification. Kitty could jump out of a helicopter on an alpine ridge and after a half hour tell you every plant that grew there, how animals were interacting with those plants, what geology made them grow there, and why or why-not you should have a rifle there with you at that moment.
Kitty exemplified the best of who we strive to be, at the Sitka Conservation Society and beyond, as engaged community members, curious naturalists, and committed Alaskans who build communities and economies that thrive alongside, not at the expense of, the wild world that sustains us.
We strive to honor Kitty in all that we do.
We remember her in the beauty of a garden in bloom, in the birdsong we can’t quite name, in the mushrooms we gather and share, in the art we create, and in the laughter that carries us through. She lives on in those moments that remind us we are alive and part of this forest, this community, this Tongass that she loved so deeply.
Beyond SCS, Kitty’s community involvement was astonishing in both depth and range. She was a teacher and mentor who shared her botanical knowledge through UAS natural history seminars, mushrooming workshops, and bird-banding projects, and her research contributed to local species surveys and Blue Lake dam studies. She was also a beloved educator at Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool and the University of Alaska Southeast. Her curiosity extended far beyond the classroom: she co-hosted KCAW’s Garden Show with Mollie Kabler and the radio program Hometown Brew; she served as a referee for roller derby in her fifties; and she performed in the Sitka Studio of Dance’s Nutcracker, playing roles such as the Rat Queen and Drosselmeyer. She was an incredible gardener, a gifted seamstress and master weaver, and one of the founding members of the Sitka Fiber Guild, established in 1985.
Through all of these contributions, Kitty embodied what it means to live fully and give deeply to the place you love. Her work, her laughter, and her boundless curiosity helped shape the Sitka we know today—and will continue to inspire those who follow in her footsteps.