The Living Wilderness Fund

Ensure a sustainable future for the Tongass and the ways of life it supports through a legacy gift.

The Living Wilderness Fund is an endowment for Sitka Conservation Society that honors the legacy of our founders and others that have worked to protect wild places, and ensures long lasting advocacy and protection of wilderness for future generations.

Large intact areas of Southeast Alaska support healthy habitat for wildlife, including coastal brown bears, Pacific salmon, wolves, and bald eagles, and provide clean water, fresh air, food security, and unparalleled inspiration to all of us who live here. A legacy gift to the Living Wilderness Fund helps protect these important areas of the Tongass National Forest and ensures that peoples' ways of life can continue for years to come.

The projects supported by the Fund through our Living Wilderness Program continue the legacies and passionate work of the people who founded SCS, including Chuck and Alice Johnstone and Jack, Sasha, and Margaret Calvin. The Living Wilderness Fund honors others who worked to share and protect wild places like Richard Nelson and artists Eric and Pam Bealer, who left their property in Lisianski Inlet adjacent to the West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness to the Sitka Conservation Society in their will.

Each contribution – whether in honor of a loved one, through a bequest, or as a direct donation – strengthens a permanent source of support for advocacy, stewardship, and connection to this wild place. Gifts are carefully invested, and only a portion of the earnings is used each year—allowing your support to grow and provide funding not just today, but for generations to come. Read on to learn more about how you can contribute your legacy, how the LWF will be used as it grows, and about our current projects supported by the Fund.

Contribute to the Living Wilderness Fund

Ways to Contribute

A legacy gift often allows you to give more generously then you might be able during your lifetime and can be in the form of real estate, retirement contributions, donor advised funds, your life insurance plan, and more. You can also make a contribution to the Living Wilderness Fund in honor of someone or as a direct donation, if you wish to make an immediate impact that strengthens this permanent endowment today while your legacy plans take shape. For more detailed guidance on how to contribute to the Living Wilderness Fund, download our Legacy Giving Guide. You can work with your financial advisor to figure out the best option for you and your family.

How will the Fund be used as it grows?

The Living Wilderness Fund fuels projects that keep the Tongass thriving and advocacy for additional Wilderness designations on the Tongass. Our Living Wilderness Program currently involves maintaining trails and cabins and conducting surveys in Wilderness and hosting immersive programs that bring artists, storytellers, scientists, and community leaders into the heart of the wilderness.

As new strategies and needs arise and as the endowment grows, our efforts will evolve and expand. The LWF has $1.3 million and is growing, and our goal is to reach $2 million. At that level, it can provide stable long-term funding for our projects that currently depend upon yearly budgets or grants.