Do you want to do your part to help protect the Tongass and its communities? Check out the most recent Action Alerts for immediate steps you can take. Also, learn about how you can volunteer, get up to date email alerts, and donate to help SCS achieve out mission of protecting the natural environment of the Tongass while supporting the development of sustainable communities in Southeast Alaska.
Write a Letter
In these days of online petitions and emails, you’d be surprised how effective a sincere letter can be. At SCS, we rely on our members to help us influence decision makers to make smart choices when it comes to the environment and sustainability.
Volunteer
For much of its history, the Sitka Conservation Society was entirely a volunteer organization, and volunteers are still essential to the work we do. SCS relies on volunteers throughout the year for everything from solitude monitoring in the Wilderness to cleaning up after our annual wild foods potluck to writing letters to members of Congress.
Donate
A Sitka Conservation Society membership can be as little as $30 a year. However, donations beyond the basic level provide substantial support to SCS programing every year. If you are passionate about keeping the Tongass wild, appreciate the work SCS does, and have the resources to make a larger contribution, we hope you will consider a donation beyond the basic membership level.
Sign up for Action Alerts
You can also stay informed through SCS’s email updates, Action Alerts, and our newsletter, Tracks, which is published 3 times a year to keep our members up to date on Tongass issues and new developments at SCS.
Become a Citizen Scientist
Citizen Scientist are everyday people who help collect valuable data for researchers across the globe. See which projects you can get involved with.
View our most current Action Alerts below:
-
Fish Need Trees, Too
SCS Board Member, Brendan Jones recently published an article in the New Your Times: “Fish Need Trees, too.” detailing the Forest Service’s poor management of resources in Southeast Alaska, putting giant, ecologically destructive clear-cuts over protecting habitat for salmon–the backbone of the Southeat Alaskan economy. Brendan writes: This year, though, the fishing fleet in southeast [...]
-
A Guide to Serving Local Fish in School Cafeterias
It’s here! Hot-off-the-press is the Fish to Schools Resource Guide and Stream to Plate Curriculum! Fish to Schools, a program that gets local seafood into schools, began as a grassroots, community initiative in the fall of 2010. Sitka is one of the first districts in the state to serve local seafood through the National School [...]
-
Sitka’s Voice Joins in Statewide Opposition to House Bill 77
Hundreds of people throughout the state have come out in opposition to House Bill 77, known also as the Silencing Alaskans Act. The Sitka community joined in opposition to HB 77 this past Thursday as well. Around fifty people showed up to a meeting scheduled with Department of Natural Resources Representative Wyn Menefee to get [...]
-
Fish to Capital
When serving local seafood in our schools became a community health priority in the 2010 Sitka Health Summit, the Sitka Conservation Society recognized the opportunity to apply our mission to “support the development of sustainable communities.” Now all grades 2-12 in Sitka serve locally-harvested fish at least twice a month, reaching up to 1,500 students. [...]
-
Protect West Chichagof
Designating land as Wilderness is the ultimate step to ensuring its protection in the long-term. Wilderness designation protects critical habitat from mining, logging, and development while still allowing people to use the land for hunting, fishing, subsistence gathering, recreating, and even making a living from guiding and operating tours. Wilderness was integral to SCS’s formation [...]
-
Standing up for the Alaskan Voice
Fellow Supporter, House Bill 77, or the “Silencing Alaskans’ Act,” is up for vote in the state senate this legislative term. The passage of this bill would cut Alaskans out of permitting decisions for any project on state lands, particularly projects that could destroy salmon habitat. The bill would give only the unelected Department of [...]
-
Stop “Clear-Cutting” Wilderness and Recreation budgets
On the day before Halloween, the US Forest Service announced they were going to reduce the already insufficient $1.1 million dollar Wilderness and Recreation budget for the entire Tongass National Forest by over half a million dollars. This is “budgetary clear-cutting” with the Forest Service already proposing the closure of 12 cabins alongside a reduction in the [...]
-
Running Wild
Running Wild from Sitka Conservation Society on Vimeo. Fellow runners, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts, Pretty incredible wilderness to explore, eh? I wish I could share it with everyone. However, the management of these incredible places is changing–and there is something you can do about it. Right now, the Chief of the Forest Service Tom [...]
-
Stream to Plate
The “why” of Fish to Schools has had clear goals from the beginning: connecting students to their local food system, learning traditions, and understanding the impact of their food choices on the body, economy, and environment. The “how” has been a creative process. Serving locally is one component of the program, but equally important is [...]
-
A Salmon Connection
Can you teach economics to kids? I wasn’t sure. I’ve been scratching my head at how to convey such an advanced topic to third graders. So what if money stays here or goes there? A dollar is a dollar to a kid and they are going to spend it on the next trendy thing, right? [...]
