Former President Jimmy Carter is one of the true heroes of Alaska’s environment. In 1980, he signed the historic Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that protected millions of acres in Alaska as wilderness and expanded the boundaries of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It is a testament to his continued commitment to protecting the Arctic Refuge that President Carter has agreed to serve as the Honorary Chairman of the Alaska Wilderness League Board.

Tom Campion, the Chairman of our Board, lives in Seattle, Washington, where he is founder and chairman of the retail chain, Zumiez, which sells surf and skateboard clothing and accessories. Tom has been involved with many environmental organizations and currently serves on the board of Conservation Northwest. Tom is also an avid outdoorsman and has visited the Arctic Refuge many times.

Mike Matz, the Treasurer, was an original cofounder of the Alaska Wilderness League and has had a very impressive career in the environmental community. Mike has served as Chairman of the Alaska Coalition, the Washington director of the Sierra Club’s public lands program and the Executive Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. He is currently the Executive Director of the Campaign for America’s Wilderness, which works to pass legislation to protect wilderness areas across the nation.

Kai Anderson works at Cassidy & Associates, a Washington, DC a government relations firm. He served for nearly six years in the office of now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a variety of capacities, and spent much of his time focused on environmental issues. Kai also served as a Congressional Science Fellow for Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT). Before entering the public sector, he worked in numerous teaching and research posts while earning his B.S. in Geology and his Ph.D. in Geological and Environmental Sciences, both from Stanford University. Kai is a member of the Geological Society of America, American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the American Geophysical Union, and is the recipient of numerous academic and teaching honors.

Tim Bristol is the Alaska Program Director of Trout Unlimited, and is based at TU’s main Alaska office in Juneau. Prior to joining TU in June 2005, Bristol served as the Executive Director of the Alaska Coalition, worked as a grassroots organizer for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council and as the Alaska Representative for the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition. When not working he can be found fishing the rivers and streams of the surrounding Tongass National Forest, playing hockey, or yelling at a television as he follows the failings of his beloved Buffalo Bills.

The Honorable Tom Evans is a former Member of Congress from Delaware. While serving in the House of Representatives, Tom championed coastal environmental issues and was the principal Republican leader in the passage of the 1980 Alaska Lands Act. Tom was the author of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act and is Chairman of the Florida Coalition for Preservation.

Ellen Ferguson is the Community Relations Director for the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, Washington. Ellen has served on a variety of civic and nonprofit boards and been involved in capital fundraising campaigns. She visited the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2004 and is a dedicated philanthropist in the Pacific Northwest.

John Gilroy is the associate director of the Campaign for America’s Wilderness. For the past 13 years he has worked on wilderness and forest protection issues with the Campaign and several other national and regional campaigns that he helped develop. In 1993 John spent the year at the Rockefeller Family Fund; and from 1988 until 1992 he was the executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (JD) and New York University (BA). He also serves on the boards of the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and Public Interest Projects.

Bruce Gitlin is the Chief Executive Officer of Milgo/Bufkin Industries, the world’s largest fabricator of fine art contemporary sculpture. He is an avid outdoorsman and is currently serving for a third term on the board of Alaska Wilderness League.

Betsy Loyless is the Senior Vice President for Public Policy at the National Audubon Society. She served as Political Director for the League of Conservation Voters in Washington, DC for over a decade.

Tim Mahoney is a consultant for environmental organizations and Alaska Native corporations specializing in land protection and natural resource issues. Previously, he worked for the Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society. He also served as a past Chairman of the Alaska Coalition.

Debbie S. Miller is an author and teacher who has lived in Alaska for more than three decades. She has written many books and essays about Alaska’s wilderness, wildlife and indigenous people. Her first book, “Midnight Wilderness,” describes the wonders of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge based on 14 years of wilderness trips through the area. As an educator and children’s book author, Ms. Miller travels extensively to schools throughout Alaska and the U.S. She is a founding member of the Alaska Wilderness League.

Shannon Huffman Polson is a native of Alaska. She lives in Seattle and is writing a book about her recent trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Her passion for the outdoors and Alaska began in the mountains of Alaska, including trips up McKinley and through the Brooks Range. She and her husband spend several weeks each year at their cabin in Denali. Prior to her career as a writer, Shannon served for eight years in the Army as a Captain and Apache pilot. She also worked in market development and management at Guidant and Microsoft corporations.

Doug Ray works as an ecological and natural resource consultant and describes his job as trying to balance the needs of people with the needs of nature. He helps minimize the impact of land development on wetlands and oversees the design and construction of new wetlands when it is necessary. His work is directly linked to his experiences in the Alaska wilderness because it has to be done with an immense amount of humility in order to succeed. His passion for Alaska has shaped his life and who he is today.

Richard Spener’s first trip to Alaska was in 1987 when he and his wife, Toni Armstrong, sea kayaked in Glacier Bay. Since then they have paddled and hiked in Alaska a total of 12 times, including five unguided trips to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As Refuge advocates and avid photographers they are politically active and support candidates who are favorable to Alaska issues. Richard owns a Midwest manufacturers food service equipment representative firm that he started in 1971. He serves on the advisory board of the Hotel and Restaurant Management program at the University of Missouri in Columbia and is active in the local Sierra Club as a trip leader and instructor in canoeing and kayaking.

Mark Wolf-Armstrong has most recently served as Founding President and CEO of Restore America’s Estuaries, a national nonprofit coalition dedicated to restoring coastal habitat and ecosystems. Mark has 30 years experience in private business and public service, including as Executive Vice President, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy; Executive Director, The Nature Conservancy of Ohio; and Deputy Director, Ohio Department of Aging. He has explored the far reaches of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by raft and foot, and the fiords of SE Alaska by kayak, as well as many other treasures of the Pacific Northwest, and Western Canada. Mark holds a Masters Degree in Anthropology.