APPLY NOW for the next Alaska Wilderness Week. (Dates have not yet been determined, but the next Wilderness Week will likely occur in early 2010.)

Twice a year, Alaska Wilderness League, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and the National Audubon Society work with other organizations in the Alaska Coalition to hold Alaska Wilderness Week, an activism and leadership training in Washington, DC.

Attendees learn more about issues impacting public land and waters in Alaska, hearing first-hand accounts about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Tongass National Forest, the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, and special areas in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska like Teshekpuk Lake. Attendees also learn about the industrial threats to these areas and about how global warming – which Alaska is experiencing at a disproportionately high rate – is already affecting wild lands and waters, wildlife populations, and Alaska Native communities.

Getting the Training

By attending grassroots, media, and advocacy trainings and listening to panels comprised of leaders from the conservation and Alaska Native communities, Wilderness Week attendees develop the skills that they need to be effective Alaska advocates.

Meeting Your Members of Congress

Following the training, Wilderness Week activists will have the opportunity to meet with their members of Congress on Capitol Hill to ask them to keep Alaska wild.

Taking Your Skills Home

Attendees will return home equipped with the skills and inspiration to continue volunteering to help protect wild Alaska. Attendees are encouraged to create their own plan of action based on the education and outreach techniques learned throughout the week and implement that plan when they get home. Attendees are supported throughout the process by the field staff from Alaska Wilderness League who are located across the country. Many past attendees have had articles and letters to the editor published in their local papers following their trips to Washington.

Through Alaska Wilderness Week, Alaska advocates across the country are building a strong and united voice for keeping Alaska wild. Please consider joining us for our next session — we are always accepting applications and will contact you when the next session is announced to let you know whether or not you were accepted.

• Click here to apply for the next Alaska Wilderness Week.

Thanks for your continued help to conserve and restore Alaska for future generations!