Hello Friends, 

The past year in Alaska has been momentous. We elected our first Alaska Native woman to Congress through ranked choice voting. We had record-breaking salmon runs in Bristol Bay. We also had devastating salmon and crab fishery closures. Typhoon Merbok hammered the west coast. Billions of dollars in new federal infrastructure funds began to flow to Alaska. The biggest ever solar farm in the state broke ground. And Governor Dunleavy recently announced new state focus on renewable energy and carbon storage. 

Alaska Venture Fund has had an equally exciting year. The Bristol Bay Victory Challenge, a 5-year, $50 million collective fundraising challenge hosted by Alaska Venture Fund hit its goal for 2022 of $30 million. These funds supported major accomplishments including long-awaited steps by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect Bristol Bay, completion of the 44,000-acre Pedro Bay Rivers Protection project and new investments in community sustainability, including a major broadband initiative led by the Village of Igiugig. In Southeast Alaska, the work of the Sustainable Southeast Partnership continues to drive a new approach to the Tongass National Forest. Our core partners raised $20 million for the new Seacoast Trust and the USDA Forest Service committed $25 million to the Southeast Sustainable Strategy. Alaska Venture Fund almost doubled our staff from 9 to 17, launched new energy and climate transition efforts, made over $2.5 million in grants to tribes and Indigenous-led coalitions and incubated funds to support projects ranging from the Chilkat Valley to Iñupiaq language revitalization.  

Alaskans are shifting the narrative on what's possible and proving to the world that change can and will start here. The stories and people you’ll read about below embody that tenacity, resilience and innovation – from celebrating the acquisition of the Pedro Bay conservation easements, to tackling food insecurity along the Yukon River.  

Cheers to changemaking in 2023!

The Alaska Venture Fund Team

Alaska Venture Fund - News & Views

Project updates, stories and perspectives that inspire our work.

Another Bristol Bay Victory Challenge Achievement: Pedro Bay Easement Acquisition

The proposed Pebble Mine would require a transportation corridor from an ocean port to the mining deposit. The only currently feasible route cuts through the Alaska Native Village of Pedro Bay, crossing several of the region’s most important rivers and streams. On Dec. 22, The Conservation Fund and Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust announced the permanent protection of over 44,000 acres of vital land and water habitat on Iliamna Lake that is essential to the health and vitality of Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. This conservation easement will deliver triple impact –effectively blocking near-term mine access, providing financial resources to Pedro Bay Corporation and its Indigenous community, and directly protecting extraordinary wild salmon habitat. The successful $20 million, 18-month fundraising effort – with half of the funding provided by The Wyss Foundation, Patagonia’s Holdfast Collective and Alaska Venture Fund – enabled The Conservation Fund’s purchase of three conservation easements on land owned by the Pedro Bay Corporation. 

Feeding the Community: A New Greenhouse Project is Building Regional Resilience 

With the catastrophic crash of the local salmon fishery on the Yukon River, the Yup’ik village of Emmonak is tackling food insecurity by repurposing fish processing facilities for farming. The community is combating the high cost of imported fresh foods and bolstering a struggling local economy through community resilience, ingenuity and adaptation to a rapidly changing world. Learn more about how the project is growing and feeding the community.  

Welcome Bill Kane to Alaska Venture Fund!

We’re excited to welcome Bill as our newest AVF team member and our Iliamna Sustainable Communities Project Coordinator! With a background in fisheries biology and experience working in many regions of the state, Bill is primed to support community-based solutions in environmental monitoring and land management in Bristol Bay. We’re proud to welcome his expertise into the fold! Get to know Bill on our AVF Team page.

From Across Alaska
News, articles, events, videos and more.

Southeast Energy Stewardship - Sustainable values guide energy innovations: Sitka in southeast Alaska, is focusing on investing in renewable energy infrastructure. This 15-minute documentary from American Innovators explains how the island community is focused on building additional sustainable energy capacity by rethinking the current energy paradigm. Sitka is nearly entirely powered by renewable energy and community leaders are focused on developing new energy resources that supplement food, electricity and heat production.

Arctic Reporting - How Indigenous Knowledge will influence Arctic strategy and federal climate change initiatives: The U.S. Department of Energy recently released its Arctic Strategy document: “The climate and economic changes driving energy transitions is a tremendous challenge and opportunity for the U.S. Arctic.” The strategy focuses on three goals: energy, science and security. Historically, the White House released the first-ever Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge to include Indigenous Knowledge in federal research, policies, management and decision-making. NOAA also released its 2022 Arctic Report Card outlining the effect of human-caused climate change on Arctic ecosystems. Members of Fairbanks’ Climate Action Committee are calling on the borough to confront climate change by adopting climate planning initiatives.

In case you missed it: 

• Opinion: How to Turn Alaska Around - This three-part series imagines the root cause of and solution for Alaska’s challenges: the Permanent Fund. [Anchorage Daily News]

• Alaska State Republicans and Democrats Work Together - Here's Why - Alaska’s newly proposed state legislative bipartisan coalition has whiffs of parliamentary governance -– in part due to ranked choice voting. [LA Progressive]

• Governor Dunleavy’s 2023 budget emphasizes the economic opportunity of carbon sequestration. [Anchorage Daily News]

• 'Backyard Buoys’ to improve vital ocean data access for Indigenous and other coastal communities - With National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, the project will bring together diverse partners to support the blue economy. [Alaska Native News]

• Building on the successful deployment of the tidal generation technology in Igiugig, ORPC expands footprint in Alaska [LinkedIn]
• The Board of Directors of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has approved $669,600 for the Chilkat River Bank Stabilization and Chinook Salmon (t'á) Habitat Restoration in Chilkat Indian Village (Klukwan). [National Fish and Wildlife Foundation]

• ‘You can pretty much name your price’: Critic says Kroger-Albertsons merger would hurt Alaskans - Food security experts in Alaska are closely – and critically – watching the proposed Kroger and Albertsons merger. [Alaska Public Media]

• Opinion: Growing Beyond our History of Resource Extraction - “A just transition means building things like food distribution systems and utilities that center community care over individual gains.” [Anchorage Daily News]

• Opinion: The Climate Movement Has Won Power. Now It Needs to Wield It. - Bill McKibben joins the Ezra Klein Show podcast to break down the importance of the Inflation Reduction Act in this moment. [New York Times]

• The Rocky Pass Tannery: Building the future through tradition - Furs from the tannery are being used for traditional art practices, activities and programs by clans across Alaska. [Sustainable Southeast Partnership]

• This stunning report explores human development around the world through pixels. [McKinsey Global Institute]
• Check out the Alaska Current – a new media collective for statewide thought-provoking content.

• The Magic and Power of Berry Picking with Michaela Goade - Meet Caldecott-winning artist, Sheit.een, Michaela Goade and her healing berry art. [Sustainable Southeast Partnership]

Building a more sustainable

future for Alaska and beyond.

Alaska Venture Fund is a project of the New Venture Fund.

New Venture Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Alaska Venture Fund
721 Depot Drive
Anchorage, AK 99501

You are receiving this message because you signed up for our emails alaskaventure.org. If you believe you received this message in error or do not wish to receive email from us, please (Unsubscribing is not supported in previews).

If you know someone who might be interested in receiving our updates, please forward this email along. New subscribers can sign up here.