The Nature Conservancy in Alaska

📣 A major win for nature, people & the planet! Yesterday in Canada, the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations announced an agreement with the Government of British Columbia for the protection of more than 188,000 acres in Clayoquot Sound. These new conservancies will advance Indigenous rights, support sustainable livelihoods and safeguard some of the last remaining old-growth in the region. Read the full story from our Canadian affiliate, Nature United. https://lnkd.in/exQ9CvtC

At TNC, advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion is essential to our mission. This #PrideMonth, we celebrate the LGBTQ community and commit to making nature a place of welcome and respect for all. https://nature.ly/3yGTuZ4

In the quirky science for #Alaska category: Beluga whales have a way of sharing a message that may surprise you, and a fun new comic in Hakai Magazine shows how they do it. As the comic puts it, "Belugas have been observed changing the shapes of their melons at will." Also, "Filled with blubber, a #beluga’s melon, or the bulbous mass on its head, is squishy with good bounce. Similar to humans, belugas can contract specific muscles to jiggle their stores of fat." So, when you need to say it, shake it! https://nature.ly/3R1LKXJ

The Nature Conservancy in Alaska is hiring! The Alaska Climate Strategy Director is a new position for an individual prepared to define conservation priorities and long-term conservation strategies relating to climate, build strategic, scientific, and technical capacity in the field, and develop key partnerships with public and private organizations to identify and resolve technical issues and to widely communicate solutions and best practices. To apply, visit https://nature.ly/4bLraTB and search for job ID 55153. #Alaska #career #job A bit about us: Guided by science, TNC creates innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that people and nature can thrive together. The Alaska Chapter works side by side with local leaders in communities across the state to overcome barriers to a sustainable future and implement practical conservation solutions that benefit people and nature. Join us in working toward a future where people and nature thrive!

TNC Alaska in the News: Yes, it's possible to capture carbon from smokestacks and store it underground. But is Carbon Capture and Underground Storage, or CCUS, the best way to limit carbon emissions? No. “We have to think about prioritizing, avoiding and reducing direct emissions — not just using CCUS technologies as a way to bail out existing emission levels,” Kelsey Schober at The Nature Conservancy in Alaska said in this week's news. Underground carbon storage may be a new frontier in Alaska but the time for decisionmakers to be informed is now. So we published a new report custom-tailored for Alaska, "Carbon Capture and Underground in Alaska: Technical Considerations and Governance Opportunities," that goes deeper than the headlines. Find the report here: https://nature.ly/3UAORqU https://nature.ly/4dEhc8c

ICYMI: Alaska's Bristol Bay is like no place else in the world, home to more wild sockeye salmon than anywhere. And new legislation, the Bristol Bay Protection Act, introduced by Alaska's Rep. Mary Peltola offers the protection it deserves. The bill would codify and affirm the findings of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in protecting the proposed Pebble mine site in Alaska’s Bristol Bay from industrial mining forever. Thank you, Rep. Peltola! https://nature.ly/3wvMPjD

The world's shorebirds need places to rest up and refuel as they journey to nesting grounds in Alaska's northern reaches. And you can see signs of that journey underway now at critical stopovers in places like #Alaska's Copper River Delta. Year after year, this place gives tens of millions of shorebirds the refueling they need to continue their inspiring migrations to nesting tundra in Alaska's Bristol Bay, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the Arctic plain and many points in between and beyond! We thank videographer Hamish Laird for sharing this week's Hartney Bay feeding frenzy near Cordova and the Copper River Delta. https://nature.ly/3UyphTp

Many of us only see kelp when it’s washed up on a beach, where it tends to look slimy and not very impressive. But kelp is one of the great unsung organisms of our oceans. Kelp creates critical, foundational habitats for everything from sea snails and rockfish to sea lions and gray whales—and for humans, kelp is a key ingredient in foods, pharmaceuticals and other products, including fertilizer and even ice cream. It is also of great cultural importance to Indigenous people on the Pacific coast. TNC scientists have produced this guidebook for mapping existing kelp beds in the Northeast Pacific https://nature.ly/3JRkDuG and the Alaska Ocean Acidification Network offers this helpful Q & A on kelp farming https://nature.ly/3JRkwiK

What might come to life the next time you stroll outdoors in your corner of Alaska? Alaska's newest children's book came to life when the artist Apay’uq Moore was out for a fun walk with the kids in the Bristol Bay village of Twin Hills. What began on that walk with a quick first draft blossomed into her first book. “The book is about these two characters who are going through the world and sort of on a little field trip,” she told KDLG radio . “They are taking note of the world around them and finding all of the magic in it.” Thanks to artist Aqay'uq Moore's lively and colorful art, readers everywhere can tag along on a journey with a Yup'ik spirit guide through Bristol Bay's sweeping landscape and learn what "Quyana Spirit" is all about! The book shares plenty of Yup'ik language and Apay'uq says she hopes the book encourages others in Bristol Bay to try new things and follow through on new ideas. https://nature.ly/3y4Dv6Q

Today, U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola introduced the Bristol Bay Protection Act to permanently protect the Pebble Mine area in Alaska’s Bristol Bay from large-scale mining. TNC Alaska is thrilled to see this important first step in reaching a goal we share with the vast majority of region’s residents and Alaskans — permanent protections for Bristol Bay. The importance of protecting Bristol Bay is one of very few issues with such strong, bipartisan statewide support. Alaska’s Bristol Bay is home to the largest wild salmon runs on Earth, and the source of almost half of the wild sockeye salmon consumed around the world. Bristol Bay sockeye salmon are also a critical resource for the Yupik, Alutiiq and Dena’ina people who live in the region and rely on salmon as a primary nutritional and cultural resource. Today, we’re thrilled to share our celebratory response to this tremendous news.