There is a moment in March—or April, depending on where in Alaska you live—when you feel the sun's warmth for the first time in months. In Anchorage, we still have feet of snow on the ground and subzero nights, but those rays are there, reminding you daily that the season is turning.

This spring, many of us are deep in the work, focused on sustaining the agreements, processes and relationships that will shape the future of our state. The ground is shifting in ways that are hard to keep up with. But alongside our partners, we hold a shared conviction: that a sustainable future for Alaska is worth building toward, and that the people closest to this place are the ones best positioned to lead it.

This month, we sit down with Natalie Dawson to discuss what's at stake for Alaska's public lands and launch a new series spotlighting the grantees whose work we're proud to partner with and support.

• Indigenous-Led Research on Alaska's Growing Landslide Risk: A new study has confirmed what communities across Southeast Alaska have watched unfold for years: the number of landslides is increasing, and the pace is accelerating, driven by intensifying precipitation and rising temperatures. This story from KTOO looks at the science and the response, including the work of the Kutí Geohazards Project. We asked our Indigenous Networks Coordinator Shawna Hotch, who works closely with the Kutí Project partners, to share her perspective:
  
  "As Tlingit people, we are directly tied to the land we steward, land my family has lived on since time immemorial. One of my first memories in Klukwan is my parents digging silt out from under my gram’s house after a landslide in the early 2000s. A nearly 300% increase in landslides across the state over the last 40 years confirms what many of our tribal communities are already experiencing on the ground: the land is changing faster than the systems designed to protect us.
  
  "The Kutí Project—weather in Língit—supports local tribes in Southeast Alaska in leading geohazard research on our own homelands, integrating traditional ecological knowledge  and community observations to understand how these hazards are changing and what we can do to make entire communities safer. The NSF-funded project is set to sunset in January 2027, leaving many tribal communities wondering how they can continue this vital work."
   

• Teshekpuk Lake and the Fight for Alaska's Public Lands: A federal judge reinstated a right-of-way agreement protecting nearly a million acres around Teshekpuk Lake, originally negotiated with Nuiqsut's Tribal government and Native corporation as part of the Willow project approval. Days later, those same lands were included in a federal oil and gas lease sale. It's the kind of pattern AVF's Natalie Dawson describes in this month's interview: agreements and policy made in good faith, through legitimate processes, reversed without warning.
   

• Accelerated Process for the Tongass Forest Plan Revision: The US Forest Service has started the next phase of its revision process for the Tongass Forest management plan, which governs how the nation’s biggest national forest is managed. The federal government is fast-tracking this process in ways that limit public input and condense timelines. Opportunities for public comment are currently open through May 6th, with community workshops beginning at the end of March. This latest version of the plan downplays some key priorities from last year’s draft, including the impact climate change has on Southeast Alaska’s communities, wildlife and environment. As this process moves forward, the Tongass Initiative partners will continue to push a plan that prioritizes the needs and input of the communities who live there.